


New, New Doctor

by Witch_Nova221



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 15:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5876275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witch_Nova221/pseuds/Witch_Nova221
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Doomsday. Planetary alliances stand on a knife edge and only one person can save them, The Doctor but she's not who she seems.</p>
<p>First posted in 2006 and not edited prior to reposting</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Doctor closed the TARDIS door against the world once again. He flicked some confetti off his brown trench coat, smiling at the memories associated with it. Maria and Toby had made a wonderful couple despite their initial differences. Toby was the young heroic type, the Doctor had picked him up in 31st Century London after he'd helped him bring down a particularly nasty overlord who had been 'Cleansing' the surrounding solar system of all alien life. Toby was a sweet boy, stupid but sweet. Two years he'd spent with the Doctor travelling and then they'd picked up Maria. The Doctor had almost wet himself laughing when the young, Swiss, novice nun had introduced herself. For weeks after their encounter in 18th century Switzerland the TARDIS had been filled with the Doctor's off key rendition of the Sound of Music.

Of course the two young humans had taken a long time to get to even like each other, Maria disapproving of Toby's modern ways and Toby bored with Maria's attempt to rationalise everything she saw to her still strong faith. The Doctor had seen it though, the love that could grow and he had nurtured it, inventing little ways to see them left on their own or thrown together on an adventure. He felt like an overly proud parent when they had announced their engagement, even prouder when he walked Maria down the aisle to her future husband. Three years since their adventure had started and it had ended happily in 31st Century Earth, Toby taking his new bride into the world he had already come from.

The Doctor looked up at the TARDIS' central column and let out a long sigh. He would miss them. The TARDIS had been filled with laughter for so long he wasn't used to the silence that greeted him. He smiled to himself ruefully before stepping up to the console and programming in a random time jump, prepared to land anywhere and hoping an adventure would present itself. The TARDIS let out several beeps and the Doctor frowned. Low power. He shook his head at his beloved ship.

"You're slowing down old girl," he said.

Several indignant beeps echoed his words.

The Doctor ran a hand through his scruffy hair, "Yeah I guess I am too a bit. Gonna miss those guys aren't we?" he said, "Find yourself a rift somewhere and land for a bit. I'm gonna…I'm gonna go brood somewhere or something."

He gave the central column a wink and the ship gave an exasperated groan before changing course under her own steam. They both knew where the Doctor was headed, where he always headed whenever he felt lonely. Ten years on a still one room held more comfort for him than any other in the TARDIS. The ship whirred compassionately as she morphed the corridors for him, moving the small bedroom closer to the control room. Rose's room.

XXXX

"I'll be home as soon as I can be Chancellor. I have to get this visit to Earth over with first and then I'll be home. Its Angela's birthday, I made a promise."

"Understood," said the Chancellor, frowning at the brunette woman before him on the screen, "Just don't bring any strays back with you. I don't want a repeat of last time."

"I won't and I promise I'll be back before you know it. This baby can make it from Earth in ten minutes if I really throw her open. You'll have the Valiant docking at the base before you can say Raxa…Raxa…oh bother it, I'll see you when I get back."

The Chancellor laughed hard, his smile forming a more friendly and familiar curve than the one he reserved for his people, "My dear child I am so glad you came to us. Hurry home but make sure you pass on our warmest regards to those still on Earth and bid them come to us at the first opportunity."

"I will Chancellor, Valiant out."

The Chancellor turned from the darkened screen to the man behind him. He bowed low, his robes brushing the polished marble floor as he did so.

"President Rassilon, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Just a visit Chancellor, I heard the call that the Valiant was sending a transmission and had hope to speak to our counterpart myself but it seems I will see her before too long anyway."

"Her TARDIS is the fastest in the fleet, she will be home before we know it but I worry that she will not take kindly to her next mission," said the Chancellor as he walked across the large control centre beside his leader.

The President gave a sad smile, "Yet she will not refuse us, she is as valiant as her ship's name gives her credit for and her knowledge has helped us no end. Perhaps with her help we can avert the crisis that our…other selves suffered. I needn't remind you that this alliance stands on a knife's edge and I know Torchwood will not be ready to come to our aid for quite a while yet."

The Chancellor shook his head sadly, "She is so brave what she does for us, I wish she would tell us more of how she came by her knowledge. She remains so mysterious with her title."

"I know," said Rassilon firmly, "But she chooses to aid us and I for one, despite the senators' disbelief in her abilities, believe she is the best thing to happen to our planet. She brings her tales of what may come but our history must play out as planned and if our doom is to come as she predicted then we must bear it the same as others before us but enough talk of these things. Go forth and tell our people of her return, they will be glad to here that the Doctor is to return to Gallifrey once more."

The Chancellor nodded and made for the communications lounge, his people would be glad to hear of the Doctor's return, the children especially as she told her wild tales of the things she had seen. He smiled to himself, life was a happy place to be in Arcadia that day and he intended to enjoy it.

XXXX

Begin outreach transmission. Detect Time Ship TARDIS. Come home Doctor. Transmitting co-ordinates and vortex shield programming. We're waiting. Confirmation Mickey the Idiot. Ending outreach transmission.

The Doctor stared blankly at the screen before him, not believing the words unrolling before him. He shook his head, convinced he would wake up in Rose's room having dreamt up a way to get back to her once again. He pinched himself, yelping in surprise as the pain flashed in his arm and the skin went an angry red at his force. Several sets of co-ordinates and a program even the Doctor had never seen before downloaded into the TARDIS computer systems but the Doctor could not bring himself to stop them taking control of his ship.

The Doctor stepped back and watched as the central column of the TARDIS protested at the co-ordinates being fed into her systems. Every atom of the Doctor's being screamed that this was madness but the glimmer of hope held him tightly and he knew he could do little else. He felt the fabric of time begin to stir around him as the TARDIS gave into the commands, lurching violently and throwing her passenger from side to side as she tumbled through the void. The Doctor watched the console as he gripped on for dear life, fearing that the heart of his beloved ship would be ripped out into the void but a message that whatever shields that had downloaded were still holding flashed madly on the screen. The TARDIS gave one final lurch, the Doctor's head smashing violently against the central console. The last thing he heard was the engines quieting as they landed. Then it went black.

XXXX

"TARDIS Valiant home and dry."

The Chancellor held open his arms to his friend and she went warmly to his embrace, pressing a kiss to his cheek that left him blushing and sinking slightly deeper into the high collar of his robes.

"Its good to see you my dear," he said, "You have been sorely missed but how was your recent trip?"

"Good, the alliance between Clomb and Raxa…Raxa…"

"Doctor?" said the Chancellor with a sigh.

"I've got it, hang on…Raxacoricofallapatorius, is still holding firm. Hopefully they won't be firing anymore bombs at each other. The Presidents of both planets seem willing to co-operate when it comes to trade too. Of course the Blatheen President was not keen to see that I had come as the Ambassador for Gallifrey, I don't think I've been forgiven yet for landing a big blue box in her flower beds last time I visited."

The Chancellor rolled, his eyes, offering his arm to his counterpart as he led her out of the TARDIS hanger, "I don't know why you froze the Chameleon circuit anyway, how that thing can be inconspicuous I'll never know."

"It has sentimental value. I love it that way, just see it and I feel like I'm home."

"So Arcadia still does not occupy that place in your heart?"

"Ero, you and Rassilon and all my dear friends here are as much home as I need but you know what I'm like with the TARDIS, she's a sanctuary. Plus I'm not expected to wear my robes when I'm on board."

"Speaking of which," said the Chancellor, his eyes flicking over the long black leather jacket and army boots currently being sported under his gaze.

"I'll change before I see Rassilon but first I've got a few people to catch up with, I promised Sumira I'd bring back some dust from the fourth ring of Saturn for that collection of hers and it is currently furring up my pockets and upsetting the Sonic Screwdriver."

Chancellor Ero felt the laughter rise in his chest but pushed it down as he passed several rather stoic senators who threw their gaze over the Doctor's outfit with repressed disgust. He cringed as he saw her face change into a sarcastic smile, her tongue poking out between her teeth, as she gave a little wave in their direction. She waited until they were out of ear shot before speaking.

"Stuffy, pompous overbearing old…"

"Doctor!"

"Sorry."

The Chancellor smiled, "Go and see Sumira, I'm sure she'll be over the moon to see you again. She hated that you had to leave her behind in your last mission but I suppose if she will go around calling the Queen of Rellin Alpha an overstuffed Jeelu Bird then I can see why you would leave her behind."

"It was for her own good. I try not to abandon my companions, I know all to well what that feels like but the situation with the planetary alliances are so delicate at the moment I felt her…tact…was better suited here. She wind up Rassilon for me?"

"Completely."

"Good girl. Catch you later Ero."

"Good bye Doctor," he said as he watched her wander off down the marble corridor, her coat fanning out behind her like a cape, concealing her slim, athletic figure.

XXXX

Sumira sat upright in her chair as the door to her apartments slid open. She smiled at her visitor, getting to her feet and enveloping her in a hug.

"Took you long enough to get up here," she said, "I heard the signal for the Valiant's landing ages ago."

"I got talking to Ero."

"He is so in love with you!"

"Don't talk rubbish, he is not. We're friend's that's all, he's sweet but he's not…well, I can't love him."

Sumira gave her friend a sad smile, taking her hand and entwining their fingers, "It still hurts after all this time?"

"Every day but that is why I do what I do isn't it? Live the fantastic life of a Time Lord. I hear you wound up Rassilon while I was away."

"I was bored. It wasn't fair you leaving me behind like that," said Sumira pouting prettily, her black hair falling into her eyes.

"What are you two or two hundred? You know why I had to leave you behind and it wasn't for long."

Sumira huffed back down into her chair, her robes swishing round her feet and sweeping up a cloud of dust.

"This place could really do with a clean."

"Says the renegade time traveller and her battered old blue box. You clean the Valiant and I'll clean my room. Is that a deal Doctor?"

"What have I told you about calling me Doctor when we're in private. Sumira you're my best friend the least you can do is call me by my first name."

Sumira gave her an apologetic smile that turned into an ecstatic grin as her friend slipped a vial of space dust into her hand, "From Saturn?"

"Fourth ring. Nearly singed my coat getting that for you."

"Its great, thank you Doc…Rose."


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor groaned as he sat up, his hand brushing against the dried blood on his forehead. His head was thumping like wildfire and he cursed in every language he knew. He shook his head, not quite remembering why he was laying unconscious on the floor of the TARDIS. As his mind cleared and information flooded back to him he glanced up in horror at the console only to feel his hearts lift with delight as he saw everything was still lit up and in working order. It was then he realised the knocking in his head was actually knocking on the TARDIS door, knocking and voices calling out to him. He scrambled to his feet, his head swimming as he momentarily forgot how to walk. He stumbled across to the door a flung it open, gazing into faces he thought he would never see again. He saw their lips move and smiles reach their faces but his mind wouldn't co-operate and blackness swum over him once again.

It was the cool material on his forehead that brought him round. The room was dark as he opened his eyes and he squinted to make out his surroundings. Panic struck him as he realised he was no longer in the TARDIS and his hand went immediately to his pocket only to find himself without his long coat or suit jacket. He sat up in the soft bed and took the damp wash cloth from his forehead.

"Where in the name of…? Oh God!" he groaned as the days events swirled unbelievably in his mind, "I've gone utterly crackers."

"You were already crackers sweetheart," came a voice in the darkness.

"Son of a…"

"Language," said the voice, a voice he recognised, a voice he loved dearly and had longed to hear again. A voice that usually accompanied pain but this time just a shift in weight on the bed and a soft hand on his brow.

"Take your time," she said, "You've had a bit of a shock. We all have. I can't believe this worked. Why don't you lay back down for a second?"

The Doctor obliged wordlessly, grateful for the comforting fingers in his hair, "I'm dreaming."

"You're not, you're here. We found you."

"Jackie?"

"Its me Doctor," said Jackie, her voice choked with sobs, "Its me. We've been searching for so long for you."

"How?"

"Hush, no questions now ok, just rest. You got a nasty bump on your head when you landed and I'll need to fetch Mickey to explain what happened in more detail."

The Doctor gripped the hand currently resting on his forehead, confusion filling his mind and no rational explanation giving him any reprieve, "I don't understand…where's…Where's Rose? Why isn't Rose here?"

"She's working, she's away. She doesn't even know you're here but rest now for me Doctor and we'll explain everything soon," said Jackie, the tears coursing down her cheeks, "She will be so happy to see you."

The door crept open and the Doctor had to shield his eyes from the light filtering from the hallway. A tall, dark figure entered the room and it took a moment for the Doctor to recognise him but when he did he was off the bed in an instant, his dizziness forgotten. He enveloped Mickey in a bear hug, almost lifting him off the floor.

"I don't know how you did it but thank you," he said releasing the boy.

"We've been sending that transmission out for five years," said Mickey, "That message repeated over and over but we managed to tune it to our universe through our DNA so only you would get it. We thought it wouldn't work but when I heard those engines I knew it was you, the others run so much more smoothly these days."

"The others?" said the Doctor, "Your DNA? What on Earth is going on here? How can you…? I jumped through the void into an alternate universe with shields I've never seen before and you…Mickey, please sit me down somewhere and tell me what on Earth is happening to me."

Mickey gave him a small smile before sitting down in a chair beside the bed while the Doctor resumed his place next to Jackie.

"Where to begin," said Mickey, "I suppose we best start with the day a new item came under the control of Torchwood, six years ago. No-one knew what it was, it looked just like a pillar but it was giving off this electro-magnetic field. Rose and I were working for Torchwood by then, I was in weapons and she was in the alien identification and management department. We'd already become a base for several of our neighbouring planets and we met more aliens everyday. It was only when Rose was showing some ambassador round the building that she even came across the pillar. I swear she nearly fainted, the key, your key that she wore around her neck began to glow and she…"

"Are you saying that thing you found was a TARDIS?" said the Doctor, "but that's impossible."

"A lot of this story sounds impossible," said Mickey with a knowing laugh, "We're pretty much the impossible universe. Anyway, this thing was a TARDIS and Rose opened it. We found a body, one man, no one else. The TARDIS seemed dead inside too but the second Rose touched the console it sprang into life and started to send out some transmission but we couldn't translate it. Rose could. She'd lost all ability with alien languages when she came here but suddenly she was translating it."

Mickey paused and the Doctor gave him a desperate look to continue. When Mickey remained silent the Doctor watched as a single tear rolled down the boys cheek. He felt Jackie's hand stiffen on his arm and a cold fear washed over him.

"What happened?" he said, "What happened to Rose?"

"She was so unhappy," said Jackie, "Angela, mine and Pete's daughter had been born and I guess Rose just felt pushed out of everyone's lives. She'd lost you, how she mourned for you Doctor and she, I guess, felt she was losing us. I think she made her decision long before the fleet arrived."

"You've really lost me now. What fleet? What did that TARDIS transmit?"

"A distress call," said Mickey, "It was an SOS from the TARDIS to its home planet. Rose translated it, she knew what it said and she knew what the reply said also."

"Reply? But Gallifrey…it can't…there was only ever…"

"One Gallifrey," finished Mickey, "So we all thought, so Rose thought. The Time Lords, the ones who could pass from dimension to dimension, the only Time Lords but you weren't the only ones and these weren't survivors from the Time War. The planet was there, the people were there and they were coming to us, coming to the TARDIS we'd found. I know you want to rail off at me about how much this can't be true but it is, you have to believe me."

The Doctor got to his feet and paced the room, his hands running frantically through his hair as he tried to process the information presented to him, "They came here?"

"Almost an entire fleet. The Presidential Escort. They landed and Rose greeted them at Torchwood's request. That was the beginning of the end. Rose and the President spoke at such great lengths, Gallifrey sought to bring us into a planetary alliance that they oversaw, an alliance that brought peace to the universe. We joined and Rose was made Torchwood ambassador but before the President could return we were struck by an alien invasion. The time line of this universe plays out differently to yours and the Slitheen attacked London only six years ago but of course, Rose knew what was happening and the crisis was averted even before it properly hit the news. Of course President Mora saw this."

"President Mora?"

"He was the President of Gallifrey at the time," said Mickey, "Do you know him?"

"I've never even heard of him," said the Doctor, "How…I'm going to put a sentence together properly soon. You said the beginning of the end, what happened to Rose?"

"The Time Lords saw her handle the situation, heard all her predictions and they were fascinated. She was locked away with Mora for hours after that, he was a kind old man and Rose took to him instantly, they became firm friends. Rose was granted access to the history banks of Gallifrey and she began her search."

"For me?" said the Doctor, "She thought as there was another Gallifrey there'd be another me."

Jackie shook her head mournfully, "She loves you still, she wanted to find you but she got her heart broken yet again. You didn't exist. No Time Lord bearing the name of the Doctor had ever existed. You'd have thought that would have been the end of it, that she would step down even as ambassador if she couldn't find you but she didn't. Mora offered her more than an ambassador's position on Gallifrey, he promised her if she would use what she knew to aid them in maintain the alliances that he would give her a TARDIS and her freedom within the stars. She agreed but she wanted to protect us, she knew working for the Time Lords would be dangerous so she became the one thing she believed the universe should not be without. Rose Tyler became known as The Doctor."

The Doctor felt an incredulous huff of laughter escaped his lips but no mirth reached his eyes as he sunk back down onto the bed, "But they never allowed humans on Gallifrey, it was the law. But Rose, she became…became me as such, what happened then?"

"She went to Gallifrey and Mora died, thirteenth life over but he protected Rose and she stayed on to serve the next President. She averted several major battles with her knowledge, the Time Lords allowing her to meddle the way they never let you. After one occasion she received the gift that stole her away from us totally," said Jackie tears welling in her eyes, she wiped them away roughly with the back of her hand, choking down the sobs in her throat, "She had the TARDIS, she learnt to fly it, called it the Valiant, that took her away but she often came home, still human, still Rose inside. The Time Lords gave her the gift of longevity, no regeneration or any of their voodoo but she will live on, she'll reach five hundred at least before time catches her and now we barely see her. Time is hers to spare and she forgets that we on Earth only have limited time. We miss her and we're afraid for her."

The Doctor slipped his arms around the now crying woman, pulling her against his chest as he too felt the tears on his cheeks. He knew how manipulative the Time Lords could be and he knew what Rose would face if she was working for them. She would never complain, would help the universe but he could only imagine the places they would send her instead of their own people, his Rose facing the nightmares of the universe with only a borrowed title and a disjointed history. He heard Jackie quieting, assuming the tears were to be expected as Mickey made no move to her and the door did not open to reveal a concerned Pete or Angela, as Jackie had called her daughter.

"We sent for you to help us," said Mickey, "After she went away and they gave her that life. If they knew, we'd be in trouble. This universe exists because its borders cannot be breached, it survives out of time with every other dimension. We are surrounded on every edge by black holes, it is a miracle that we fell through that first time or that we could get through to follow the Cybermen, its so dangerous and the Time Lords prevent anyone from passing to other dimensions."

"So how did you manage to bring me here?" said the Doctor, "No offence but humans must still be very early on in there space development even with Torchwood, that program you sent me, it wasn't something from Earth."

"It was Time Lord," said Mickey, with a sly grin, "Stolen Time Lord. Rose has a companion, a young Gallifreyan in only her second regeneration, Sumira she calls herself. She is Rose's only confidante on Gallifrey, her true identity is hidden and the others only know her as the Doctor. Rose told Sumira about you, about how she loves you and misses you. When Rose visited a year after she'd left, she brought Sumira and she and I talked. She is a scientist, so intelligent even for her own kind but her personality is not of the Time Lords' taste and she cannot progress far. Whether in an act of defiance to the planet or just to help Rose she helped me develop the program you saw, pull you through the void and avoid the black holes. Rose needs you Doctor and we don't care whether you take her back to your universe and we never see her again, we just want her away from the danger she's in with the Time Lords."

The Doctor looked down at his feet, scuffing his plimsolls against the rug on the floor. He tried to process the information he'd been given, his head was swimming round so fast that he thought it might explode. Not only was he here, so close to Rose and all he wanted in the universe but his people lived, his people were involved in the universe rather than just overseeing it. Rose was living the life he knew she loved and yet looking into the two faces he knew loved her as much as he did and seeing the pain he knew he had to help.

"I suppose we'd best let her know I'm here then," he said getting to his feet, "Ten pounds says she faints."

Mickey laughed, "She probably will. I'll contact Sumira, get her to authorise our landing on Gallifrey, don't want them all freaking out when the TARDIS materialises looking exactly like the Valiant."

"I don't think the TARDIS will be able to make it, she doesn't draw any power from this universe," said the Doctor, "Can't we just send for Rose, I…I don't know if I want to go back to Gallifrey, a Gallifrey that's not my Gallifrey."

Jackie stood beside the Doctor and lay a hand on his shoulder, "She was called home. They have a meeting of the Senate and she will probably have a new mission, we won't be able to call her away."

"The shields that pulled you through the void will convert power for the TARDIS," said Mickey, "Special Offer so to speak. Aren't you the least bit curious about what its like?"

"Utterly," said the Doctor, black holes, TARDIS' and Time Lords all buzzing round in his head like some mad fairy tale, he hadn't felt this confused since he watched The Matrix. He felt a smile creep to his lips, a smile he hadn't smiled in nearly ten years, "I'll go but please say someone is coming with me."

"I will," said Mickey, "Jackie and Pete don't leave Earth because of Angela but I can come. I'll call Sumira, get her to sort everything her end and I'll let Torchwood know that I've had a transmission for assistance from Rose, they'll let me go then."

"I'm going to see her aren't I?" said the Doctor, "I'm going to see Rose again."

Jackie smiled and guided him to the door, "Best give it a couple of hours before you leave though. Don't want the shock hitting you while you're piloting that old thing out there."

The Doctor wanted to throw her some witty retort about not insulting his ship but instead he grinned widely and scooped her into a hug.

"Jackie Tyler I have missed you."


	3. Chapter 3

"Sumi! Sumi! Where've you disappeared to now?" called Rose, as she stood in her room in Sumira's apartments, adjusting her heavy Time Lord robes. Despite not being even vaguely Gallifreyan, Rassilon insisted on Rose wearing the robes of the Presidential house at every meeting of the Senate, it was one of the requests made by Mora before he died. Rose smiled sadly as she thought of the old President, her teacher and friend. He had personally over seen her training with the TARDIS, marvelling at how well she handled the time ship after only a few lessons. He and Sumira we're the only ones who knew her whole back history, the ones who knew she was not the prophet that the Time Lords now made her out to be but she would not contradict their placing of her. In her heart serving Gallifrey and averting the potential of another Time War was her way of celebrating her life with the Doctor, carrying on from what he had taught her.

Rose came back to reality as she heard a thump from the room next door and several undignified curses from her companions mouth. Lifting the skirts of her robes from the floor, she made her way out of her room and into Sumira's. The girl in question lay in a sprawled position on her bed, clearly having toppled trying to place the vial of Saturn dust with her collection on a high shelf. Rose rolled her eyes and helped her back to her feet.

"I swear I'll walk in here one day and you'll have broken your neck," she said as they returned to the central room, "Do you think you can stay out of trouble for an hour or so while I'm at the Senate Meeting?"

"Of course," said Sumira, flopping down onto the ornate sofa her father had insisted on placing in the apartment when she moved, "What have they got you in for this time?"

"Probably the way I handled the facist uprising on Yoyta, allegedly flashing the troops to distract them isn't deemed a diplomatic tool for a Gallifreyan representative," said Rose, giggling at the memory, "I'll get a slap on the wrist again. They know they can't touch my while Rassilon and Ero are in power, Rassilon would never go against Mora's wishes."

"Just be careful Rose," said Sumira as she watched her friend adjust her hair in the mirror, pulling the long brunette strands she could still remember as being gold into a tight plait down her back, "You know how tricky those senators can be and don't get all snarky with them like you did last time, you just piss them off and then they send us to planet shit hole in shit galaxy nine on a mission."

"But its so much fun and I do snarky brilliantly," said Rose turning back to the room, "There, how do I look?"

"Like a dusty old senator but I bet Ero will still tell you that you look lovely," said Sumira with a wicked grin, "He so has the hots for you."

"You sound more human everyday. Even if he does like me, which he doesn't, I'll just have to let him down gently and don't you wind him up. He doesn't know about the Doctor and I don't want him to, some things, I need to keep sacred," said Rose making for the door. Her hand was on the handle as she heard Sumira speak once more.

"What would you do if you saw him again Rose?"

"Cry," said Rose softly, "And I'd tell him that I love him. Now stay here and don't cause trouble. I'll be back soon."

Rose opened the door and stepped out into the corridors of the Presidential Palace of Arcadia, biting back the tears that had crept into her eyes. She hadn't cried in five years and she wasn't going to now. Raising herself up to her full height, she threw back her shoulders and adopted the air she carried so brilliantly, silent, snarky and deadly. Her Doctor, her first Doctor, living and breathing on Gallifrey once more.

XXXX

Sumira waited until she heard Rose's heavy boots echoing down the corridor before she ran back into her room, retrieving the small communications device from underneath her pillow. She smiled down at the picture on the screen.

"Mickey you're a genius!" she said her voice still a whisper.

"I don't know why you're whispering Sumi, she's gone," said Mickey, "You made enough noise when I told you anyway, did you hurt yourself?"

"I'm fine, just next time ask me if I'm sitting down. Where is he, get him on the screen. I want to see if he's as handsome as Rose makes him out to be."

Mickey laughed at the eager look on his friend's face, "Jackie's feeding him. He can't escape for a while, you'll see him when we get there. I need you to clear a landing bay for us, the TARDIS looks exactly like the Valiant and I don't want people panicking when we land."

"I'll authorise the landing, I can't believe we did it, she is going to love us so much when she sees him. When are you leaving?"

"Ten minutes," said Mickey, "The Doctor's TARDIS is a type 40 like the Valiant but we're not going to open her up too much so we should be there in about thirty minutes, if the shields hold."

"They'll hold," said Sumira, "Get here as fast as you can. Rose is at the Senate for a couple of hours, plenty of time to stow him away in here for when she gets back. Safe journey. See you soon."

"See you soon Sumi and don't get distracted we need that landing clearance," said Mickey before his image faded from the screen.

"Don't get distracted," mimicked Sumira, "Like I'd get distracted."

She got to her feet and moved swiftly out of her apartments, locking the door behind her and hurrying down the cool, marble corridors. Her pace was unrelenting as she descended to the landing bay, the décor becoming more military and useful. Several of the young guards shot her an appreciative stare but she knew it was her connections they saw beneath her heavy robes and not the girl she was. That's why she'd asked to travel with Rose, travelling through the stars with the infamous Doctor, defender of the universe. The Doctor. She had grown used to Rose bearing that title but now she knew she had to meet the original and the thought terrified her. Rose in her role was terrifying, strong and silent. She could negotiate her way out of any situation or if that failed she could turn the alien weapons on her captors with a clever quip or brilliantly executed plan. In private Rose had always confided how she learned everything from her Doctor and Sumira worried that if Rose could possess such power what would her teacher be capable of?

So lost in her thoughts was she that Sumira failed to see the person coming towards her until she collided with the broad mass of a silk robed chest. She looked up into the eyes of her assailant and blushed as she knew the words that would drop from his tongue.

"In a rush Sumira?" said the Chancellor, "You should pull your head out of the clouds otherwise you'll end up crashing into a Cyberman or worse one of these days."

"I was just thinking about the Doctor," said Sumira, "All those adventures. If you don't mind me saying, shouldn't you be at the Senate Meeting."

"I had a pressing matter to attend to, I was excused for the evening. Actually seeing as you're here I was hoping to talk to you."

"Well I'm actually in a bit of a…"

"Sumira," said the Chancellor, "It is important that I speak to you."

"But…yes Sir," said Sumira knowing that she couldn't protest her case before her superior without revealing too much information. She glanced back at the docking bay, praying she could get clearance for the TARDIS, as the Chancellor led her away.

After what seemed an eternity of walking, the Chancellor pulled her into a nearby antechamber and sat her down on one of the simple iron benches, normally reserved for the soldiers on duty. He paced the room before her, wringing his hands in a way Sumira had never seen before. She bit her lip to stop herself laughing. Ero only acted nervous when Rose was around or he mentioning her.

"Sumira," he began, clearing his throat as his voice came out in a squeak, "You and the Doctor have been friends for some time now."

"Four years," said Sumira preening, everyone on Gallifrey was jealous of her position beside Rose, "Well four and a bit. Why?"

"Does she confide in you about anything? Anyone?"

Sumira felt the devilish smile creep to her lips but fought to retain her stoic expression, "Oh yes, all the time. I know her most intimate secrets, who she likes, who she hates, who she loves. Her hopes, her dreams, even her name. I know everything there is to know about her I think. Why do you ask? You know I will never tell you her name or her history, many have tried that before."

Ero's pacing stilled but he still tapped his foot nervously against the grated floor, "I would never ask you to reveal that, though her name I admit is a mystery I long to solve…just for information's sake of course."

"Of course," said Sumi, a giggle rising in her throat that she barely managed to disguise as a cough, "So what do you need to know?"

She watched as Ero resumed his pacing, clasping his hands behind his back then moving to sit down on the bench beside her before springing back to his feet and resuming his pacing. His dance went on for several minutes before Sumira burst out laughing, having to hold onto the bench for fear of toppling off it.

"Dear sweet Chancellor," she said through her giggles, "You care for her don't you? I knew it!"

The Chancellor paled dramatically before running a hand through his slightly greying hair, "More than I should and that is why I need you help Sumira, help me to win her. She closes herself off from any romantic attention, hides behind that leather jacket of hers. I know she dyed her hair back to brown because of the comments she got on its gold when she first came here, she flinches away from any contact but she should not. Help me, I swear I will treat her as well as any man could."

Sumira's giggles quieted as she heard his hearts laid bare before her. She calmed her breathing before she spoke, "Do you seek my permission to pursue her or my advice because I can give you neither. I know the Doctor's heart and mind as if they were my own and I cannot aide you with something that I know will only lead to pain for you both," she said softly taking his hand as he sat on the bench beside her, "She cares for you deeply Chancellor Ero, she values your friendship beyond anything but she can never love you. Her heart belongs…her heart belongs to the universe, the people she serves, to something far greater than we could ever be."

The Chancellor's head dropped to his chest before he breathed a defeated sigh, "I cannot quell these feelings inside me. I know it is against the laws of our planet to love her, it is against the natural order of our people. I will out live her even with the gifts of our people within her, I will regenerate and she will slowly age but that spirit, the spirit of hers will never age."

"Yet to love you, or anyone who does not share that same spirit would be to cage her," said Sumira, "Her strength lies in her freedom and to be tied to anyone who her heart did not belong to in its entirety would destroy her. You surely know there is truth in that?"

Sumira was content to sit beside Ero as he sank into deep thought, forgotten was anything in her head before the Chancellor's words as she saw the pain in his face. She had seen it before, not just those on Gallifrey but men across the universe that had known the mysterious Doctor as a friend and comrade for a long enough time to see her true beauty. Men of great wealth, beauty and intelligence and thrown themselves at her feet and every one was turned away as gently as she could manage. Sumira saw the other side too, heard Rose fight back the threat of tears either in the Valiant's control room or her apartments, heard her when she spoke to the stars as if the man she loved could still hear her if she whispered softly enough. She knew that behind the armour of leather and sarcasm there was a girl who had lost everything she held dear, who lived behind the mask of another that she had created. The Doctor, to Rose, was a sanctuary in his absence as he had been when they were together, a mask she could hide behind.

Many minutes passed before she opened her mouth to speak again but she was cut short as the red alert sounded throughout the building. The Chancellor shot to his feet and ran from the room, Sumira close at his heels, racing back towards the landing bay. It was when she saw the soldiers at arms and the materialising TARDIS that she remembered her promise. She could hear the astonished gasps from around her, watched the soldiers eyes dart from the now solid Police Public Call Box to the Valiant stationed against the western wall.

"It's exactly like the Valiant…"

"She cannot cross her own time track…"

"Its an invasion…"

Sumira paled as she saw more and more soldiers enter the room, their weapons trained on the TARDIS. She wanted to move before them, call them off but the Chancellor held her back, his eyes as confused as the others around them. Then she saw it, the door opened.

Rose hadn't lied. Rose was right, from his mop of flyaway brown hair to the scruffy plimsolls on his feet, the Doctor, the real Doctor was handsome, so very handsome and terrified as he raised his arms above his head. Mickey doing the same beside him.

"Nice to see they brought out the welcoming party," Mickey said to the man beside him, "Clearly Sumi got distracted."

"Well I do like to make an entrance," said the Doctor, "Best get this over with. I'd like to see the Doctor please."


	4. Chapter 4

Rose was severely pissed off. She'd just got into a wonderful rant at a particularly annoying senator and was about to throw in some wonderful quips about the fact that her sonic screwdriver was probably more likely to defeat an army of Cybermen than any of his methods when the red alert went off. She huffed down from the podium she had been standing on and moved to Rassilon's side as he left the Senate Chamber. Most of the senators were moving away from the landing bay but Rassilon called several guards to flank him as he and Rose made for the commotion. Rose saw the lines of soldiers as she pushed passed the crowds who had gathered in doorways to watch the unfolding events. She saw the guns raised and the Valiant standing in the middle of the landing bay, but the Valiant hadn't been parked there and glancing over to the western wall she saw that she sat in the place she had been assigned.

Rose grasped Rassilon's arm as her senses and eye sight came to her. Her breath stilled in her throat and she was sure her heart stopped hammering.

"In the name of the Gods…" she squeaked, "Lower your weapons!"

The soldiers turned their heads to her, shocked to see the usually calm Doctor flying down the nearest stairs case, her long robes flowing out behind her and gathered high to her hips to allow her to run, pushing down the soldiers weapons as she went. Those closest to the intruders kept their arms on guard, waiting for a command from a more superior officer.

"I said lower your weapons!" cried Rose, "Those people are not your enemies."

When no one did as she commanded she pulled a gun from the nearest soldier and fired a round of bullets into the air. Every face in the landing bay turned to her, some guards raising their guns against her.

"You will do I as command," said Rose, maintaining her composure as best she could, "These people are not your enemies. They're…they're…"

Rose looked over to the Doctor, seeing the same emotions on his face that were playing in her heart. She felt the tears on her cheeks and the sobs racking her small frame.

"They're mine," she cried before dropping the gun and running over to him, pushing aside the last line of soldiers to reach him. She threw her arms around his neck, reality confirmed to her as he lifted her off the ground with the force of his embrace. She could feel him quaking beneath her hands, sobbing as hard as she was as he held her tight to him. She pulled back enough to run her fingers through his hair, over his cheeks, her thumbs caressing his lips as if rememorizing every contour of his features.

"Its you," she murmured, "My god its you. Its really you. You're here, you're here! My…oh God, you're here."

The Doctor laughed through his own tears as he pulled her close again, "I'm here. I got here in the end. Rose…"

He was cut off as she pressed a crushing kiss to his lips. He kissed her back, every argument against it dying on his tongue as it curled around hers. He didn't care for any rules, any consequences, he had Rose in his arms, Rose kissing him. He felt her pull away far too soon, gasping for air through her sobs as she rested her forehead against his.

"How is this possible?"

"Don't you dare ask me to explain," he said softly, "Because I do not have a clue but I'm here, I'm real… You changed your hair."

Rose giggled at the remark, knotting her fingers into his hair, "Ten years and that's all you have to say to me? You haven't changed yours, still a mess."

"Thought you liked it like that?" said the Doctor.

"I do," murmured Rose, "God Doctor I've missed you. I love you…"

"My Rose Tyler…"

"Can someone please tell me what is going on here?" demanded Rassilon pushing his way up to the pair, the soldiers finally lowering their guns as their President stepped into the frame. The Doctor pulled back from Rose slightly and held up a finger to silence the man before him.

"Two seconds please," he said, "Christ the universe is against me. I'm going to say it this time if it's the last thing I do. Last time I didn't…"

"Just say it!" cried Rose, tugging on his hair and feeling little remorse when he yelped in surprise, "Stop rambling and say it, I've waited ten years!"

"I love you," said the Doctor softly against her lips before pulling back from her and spreading his arms wide, letting out a whoop of joy, "I LOVE YOU!"

Rose launched herself back into his arms, giggling like a school girl as he span her around. It was only when she caught sight of Rassilon's face that she struggled from the Doctor's arms and roughly wiped her tear stained cheeks with the back of her hand.

"President Rassilon," she said through a difficult mixture of tears and laughter, "This man is no threat to us. He is… He's a Time Lord, he's my Time Lord. My teacher before Mora. Mickey you know as well, from Torchwood on Earth and god knows why the silly idiots didn't call ahead for authorisation but they're mine and I take full responsibility for them. They will cause you

no trouble I swear. Please, call off the guard."

Rassilon seemed to ponder the scene before him for a second before he raised his hand, "Stand down all of you, back to your stations," he said, watching as the reluctant soldiers left the scene. He waited until they were out of earshot before they spoke again, "Doctor would you please tell me what's going on?"

Rose put a finger to the Doctor's lips as he went to speak, "He's talking to me," said Rose, "I'll explain later. These people are my friends Rassilon. My…the…this man is from my original universe, a surviving Time Lord."

"And how is it that he is come here now when all the portals to other dimensions were sealed?" said Rassilon, his eyes containing all the anger he did not show, "Because Doctor I doubt even your abilities could see you safely across the void in a time ship from another dimension, it would be impossible."

"I think…" said Sumira, timidly moving to Rose's side but the Doctor cut her short.

"I feel through the void," said the Doctor, "Just a mistake but I was working on some shields and they seemed to have worked to protect the power source of my TARDIS. I found Mickey and he told me Rose…"

"Rose?" said Rassilon.

"Shit," muttered Rose, she buried her face in her hands before tugging on the collar of her robes, "I have got a lot of explaining to do. Rassilon I assure you these people are no threat and I will explain as much as I can to you but please, grant me an hour, for the memory of Mora if nothing else, grant me an hour to calm myself and compose myself. My world is spinning faster than the eleventh moon of Arcra and I doubt I will answer you well now."

"Doctor I…"

"President Rassilon," said Chancellor Ero, his face grey from the scene he had witnessed, "The Doctor is clearly in some shock, perhaps it is better to allow her time, she clearly has a great affection for her friend."

"Ero," murmured Rose.

"Very well," said Rassilon, "An hour Doctor and no more. You and your friends shall meet me in the Hall of State and I will hear your explanation but I assure you my child it had better be good, I don't not stand down my soldiers from an intruder for no reason, whoever the request may be made by."

"Sir," said Rose, her eyes closing in a silent groan as both Rassilon and Ero swept away out of the landing bay.

"Rose…" Sumi began.

"Why does this have your finger prints all over it Sumira?" said Rose, trying to steady her breathing as it shuddered in her chest, "I need to sit down and I need a bloody good drink. I need someplace quiet. We'll go to the Valiant, she's…I need to go to the Valiant."

"Rose," said the Doctor, "Rose look at me. Breathe Rose, just calm down. I know it's the most stupid thing to say, my hearts aren't co-operating with me either but if you're not careful you're going to…faint."

The Doctor caught the bundle of silken robes as Rose fainted into his waiting arms. He lifted her up, shooting Mickey a pained glance at the situation that had unfolded. Mickey shook his head.

"That could have gone a lot better," he said, "Sumi what happened?"

"I got distracted," she said her eyes filling with tears, "I tried…when I heard the alert, I didn't mean for anything to happen."

"Hey, no ones to blame for this," said the Doctor, settling Rose more carefully in his arms, "Sumira you did what you could. You're a Time Lord, act like one please child and take us to the Valiant, I won't have any tears today."

Sumira nodded and led them towards the second blue box in the hanger, her head held high as she blinked away her tears. Mickey punched the Doctor on the arm, mindful of Rose in his embrace.

"What was that? You've never called anyone child before," he hissed out of Sumira's hearing, "She's not a child, she looks young but she's two hundred at least."

"Mickey…just don't," said the Doctor, "I…I have…I'm not comfortable with being here, on Gallifrey surrounded by faces that I recognise but who don't recognise me."

Mickey flicked his gaze from the Doctor to Sumira, noticing the pained glance on the older Time Lord's face, "You know her don't you?"

The Doctor nodded, "On my planet, she was called Adella," he said softly, "She was my first companion when I left Gallifrey and her hair was a lot shorter. She changed her name when we left, chose an Earth name. She's the image of my grand-daughter. She's exactly like my Susan and she doesn't even recognise me. You have no idea how much that hurts."

"You can't tell her," said Mickey, "I know Sumira's family, her grandfather died before she was even born. She's the daughter of one of the most prolific senators."

"I suddenly know why Rose found it impossible not to tell Pete who she was when we were last here," said the Doctor. He quieted as they reached the Valiant, Sumira holding open the panelled door for him. He stepped inside and gasped in awe.

"This place is beautiful."

XXXX

Rose paced the lounge room of the Valiant that they were currently occupying. Everything had been explained about the Doctor's arrival before Mickey and Sumira had left the room, leaving Rose to explain her side of things to the Doctor.

"Why aren't you angry with me?" she said looking at him as he sat on one of the large leather chairs, one ankle balancing on his other knee as he rested his head on his hand. He looked relaxed, as if he had always been there and it disconcerted Rose no end.

"Why would I be angry?" he said softly, "Rose I have nothing to be angry about."

"I took your name, who you were," she said fighting back the tears once again, the flood gates, once opened, proving difficult to close, "I pretended to be something I wasn't."

"Mora believed in you," said the Doctor, "You took my title but you were never me. You were Rose Tyler, you were the one who learned to fly this beautiful ship, you were the one who went on all those missions and survived them. A name is a name although I must admit it is a little weird hearing you being called it. All that matters to me is that we're together again, you and me and…"

"…And the fact that the Time Lords gave me their gift makes us being together possible at last," said Rose, turning to him, "Bet you never thought you'd see me like this. Rose Tyler the Time Lord."

The Doctor bit his lip but failed to prevent the grin coming to his face, "You look a sight in that get up," he said barely concealing his laughter.

Rose giggled along with him, turning into full blown laughter as his rang like music in her ears. She slowly quieted as she heard him get up and take her arms gently. She glanced up into his eyes and her breath stopped as she saw the unconcealed love staring back at her. She reached up to run several strands of hair through her fingers.

"Ten years," she said softly, "Its been so long and not one day went by when I didn't think of you. Have you…has there been anyone?"

"Never another you," he said, "I took some companions now and then, had a rather interesting encounter with a bride just after you left. Then there was Martha, she was sweet, not a patch on you though, nowhere near and then I was alone for a while, couple of years, then I met Toby and Maria. They'd just got married and left before I came here."

"You've been busy," murmured Rose, "I guess Mickey's told you all there is to know about me. Four years at Torchwood, six years with the Time Lords, four years knocking around the universe with Sumi. I have a companion and I don't know how you coped with having anyone on board the TARDIS because she drives me nuts!"

"She means well," said the Doctor, "She cares enough for you to have helped Mickey find me. But there was a reason for that you know, on your family's side at least."

Rose smiled knowingly, "I thought as much," she said, "They sent for you to take me away from the terrible Time Lords, they hate what I am now but you see I can't leave. They're my people, my responsibility."

The Doctor bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips, "I see your love for them and I know you wouldn't do anything you didn't believe in. I'm not asking you to make any choices, not yet anyway. I want to stay with you, see this life you lead before even I begin to make any choices."

"It'll be confusing, two Doctors knocking about."

"There's only one Doctor here."

"Well I guess you do get first dibs on the name…"

"I didn't mean me," said the Doctor, "This is not my Gallifrey and I am not their Doctor, that title is yours and I won't take it from you but I don't think I'll be able to call you it myself."

Rose smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling into the warmth of him, "You really mean that?" she said, "What am I to call you?"

"We'll see hey," said the Doctor, "Right now all I want to think about is how fantastic it feels to have you in my life again. Sorry, I've kind of turned into a bit of a romantic over the years."

"I don't mind," said Rose against his lips, "You always were desperately romantic anyway. Now shut up and kiss me, I've got ten years to make up for."

"You've certainly got demanding."

"I became you!" she said before pulling him down into her kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

Rassilon paced back and forth in front of Rose and her friends. He was evaluating the information presented to him but was struggling to come to terms with it. Rose had told him everything, her whole story and she assured him the Mora had known of everything when he had offered her the position on the planet. Rassilon would never go against the wishes of his predecessor and Rose had proved herself on every mission she had undertaken for them. Rassilon glanced over at his Chancellor, seeing the ashen pallor of the man he knew loved Rose utterly and was now broken since the true Doctor arrived. The Doctor himself fascinated the President. He was so like Rose and yet so unlike her, she was more Time Lord in her robes and manner than he even attempted to be in his scruffy suit and yet, they worked perfectly.

Rassilon ceased his pacing in front of the Doctor, running a gaze over him as if to confirm the decision before him.

"You say you wish to work with…Rose for a while?" said Rassilon, still having difficulty distinguishing the two Doctors due to Rose's request that she keep her title in public but privately was to be referred to by her birth name.

"I do," said the Doctor, "I want to see the life she has led and, if I can, assist her with it."

"Can you function under her command? Your history dictates that you were in charge on all your missions but that I cannot allow. If you work with her, you obey her to the letter. She is my best pilot and she knows this universe better than anyone but can you, her teacher, sail under her command?"

The Doctor turned to Rose and smiled, "I'm used to her bossing me about, I think I can handle it. You have my promise that I will try."

Rasillon nodded before pacing back over to Sumira, "You are lucky my dear that Rose chose to speak for you, what you have done convenes several…"

"President Rasillon," said Rose firmly, "We have been over the implications of Sumira's behaviour and I have spoken for her favour and Mickey's, we do not need to drag this out anymore."

Rose smiled as she heard the Doctor let out a low, appreciative whistle at her words and something muttered along the lines of 'You go girl!'.

"Sumira acted irresponsibly," said Rose, "But I will not leave her behind this time, she will not leave my sight and I will make sure this doesn't happen again. You have my oath on that, Rasillon, by the memory of Mora. Now please can we have an end to this? I'm desperate to change out of these robes!"

Rasillon's face split into a friendly smile at the passion in his friends final words, "Very well…"

"President Rassilon," said the Chancellor, "There is still the matter of what will become of the Doctor in the future…what will become of both Doctors. The Doctor…Rose…is a part of this universe now but we cannot let in every stray who passes the borders."

"Thanks, I'm a stray," muttered the Doctor, "Nice friends you've got here Rose, really welcoming what with the guns and now the get off my land act, they're…"

"Doctor!" said Rose, "Being rude again. Some things don't change. What happens to the Doctor and me in the future is irrelevant and I will let you know if anything changes that will affect me doing my job or the citizens of this planet. My duty is to Gallifrey and nothing will cloud that. Ero you are my friend please do not stand against me at this time."

"I can make you no promises Doctor," said the Chancellor not meeting her eyes, "My duty is also to Gallifrey and it is my belief that a renegade Time Lord, who you yourself admitted broke the majority of our laws, running around unchecked is not in their best interests."

"So polite," murmured the Doctor.

"Thank you, that's really helping," said Rose, "He will not be unchecked Chancellor because he will be under my command. As for being a renegade, that, dear friend, is the whole reason I was ever employed. Now if that is all I would like to return to my apartments and change out of this ridiculous outfit!"

Rose turned to the door and began to stomp away, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes as she felt the loss of Ero's support deeply. She could hear her friends catching up to her and her hand was on the door before anyone spoke.

"Doctor," said Rasillon, "Our Doctor, I need to speak with you alone about one more thing. Your friends can return to your apartments but I must speak with you."

Rose sighed and pulled herself upright, closing her hand around the Doctor's as it lay warmly on her arm. He watched her and she took a deep breath, the mask she wore falling back into place over her delicate features and he saw the semblance of his ninth self in her countenance, pained and powerful. Rose turned back to the President, halfway glad to see Ero exiting by a nearby door.

"Certainly my lord," she said walking back over to him, "You have my attention. I'll meet you all at the apartments, Sumira take care of them."

Sumira nodded and led the others out of the door, as Rose walked back over to Rasillon. He walked her to a side door and pushed it open, leading her into a small ornate garden on the one of the palace's many roof terraces. Rose breathed in the scent of the flowers around her, enjoying the dying fragrances as twilight began to descend over Arcadia. She felt Rasillon take her hand between his cool fingers before leading her to a stone bench and sitting her down. He stared up at the stars as he sat next to her, his mask falling away as it always did when they were alone.

"I don't know what to do Doctor," he said softly, "The senate will want to know what happened today and I will have to tell them, I can't protect you anymore."

"I don't ask for your protection, I never have," said Rose, "Let my deeds stand as my protectors and if they fail then I have no place on Gallifrey anyway."

"We need you Doctor," said Rasillon, pulling something from his pocket and handing it to her.

Rose regarded the grainy photograph, it was near black as if taken underground and secretly. She noticed the coding on the bottom, a transmission from the Thal ambassador she often worked with. The image before her took shape as she studied it and she threw the picture away in surprise and disgust.

"You recognize it?" said Rasillon, "Your stories came to me as soon as I saw the image. Our Thal ambassador on Skaro infiltrated the base of the Kaleds despite the peace treaty they signed. He came across some information about the development of these battle droids and sought to get us confirmation."

"They're not droids," said Rose, "I that is what I think it is then it is a life form and it is deadly, a threat to Gallifrey, a threat to bring about the Time War."

"Then that fate will reach us also," said Rasillon, "And I cannot prevent it."

"I can," murmured Rose, "I can try. I know before you even command it that I will leave for Skaro in the morning. I will talk with Davros, he has been reasonable until now, perhaps he will reveal the project to me and we can manage it. If not, well, now I have the Doctor we may have a chance but Rasillon, if this is a Dalek then we are in grave danger."

"I know," said Rasillon, "And I do not know how we can face it."

XXXX

Rose returned to the apartments she shared with Sumira and was glad to hear the laughter echoing from the lounge room as she pushed open the door. Rather than going straight into them she turned into her room and began to clamber out of her restricting robes. She pulled the ties loose from her hair and let it fall randomly about her shoulders, running her fingers through it, still unused to the colour after four years.

"You look amazing," came a voice from the door.

She jumped as she heard the Doctor's voice behind her but she knew her heart wasn't just hammering through shock. She kept her eyes on the large ornate mirror as she saw him walk behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and resting his chin on her shoulder. She leaned back into him, not caring for modesty as she stood in just her underwear, two years at his side and ten more dreaming of him had left her without any concerns over him. She reached up to fuss his untameable hair before brushing her fingers across his cheek to remove the single tear that had escaped his eyes.

"Still overwhelming isn't it?" she said as he buried his face in her neck, "You're here and its like the time never passed between us, yet you're in my arms. That was never part of the deal before."

"It should have been," murmured the Doctor, "I wasted so much time."

"If anyone can understand why you held back I can now," said Rose pulling out of his embrace and getting into a soft dressing gown.

She sat down on her bed and patted the space beside her. The Doctor sat, pulling her back into his embrace.

"When I was with you before I know all you could see was the forty years, if that, that we could have together before I got to old to travel and then I'd die. To love someone and lose them so quickly is so hard," said Rose, revelling in his dual heartbeat against her cheek, "When the Time Lords granted me their gift I accepted it whole heartedly, the chance to live on amongst the stars. It was only when I noticed Angela growing up that it hit me. They'd die."

She felt the Doctor's breath leave him in a saddened sigh as he brought a hand up to stroke her hair, "That's why you don't visit so much, distance yourself from your family?"

Rose nodded against him, "It is that. I can't watch them die but they don't need me anymore either. Pete can't love me, I'm not his. Mickey has a girlfriend, Mum has the money and Angela. All I had was the memories of the stars and a heart that couldn't be human anymore. When I found the Time Lords, when they gave me long life, I became as complete as I could be without you at my side. I was home."

"You say I should be angry for you becoming me but you never did," said the Doctor, sadness threading through his voice, "I never held the affection for my people as you do, nor did they hold any for me. When you were talking to Rasillon today I saw the Doctor I could never be, you're greatest deeds have been to save this world, the only thing I did for my planet was…"

"Don't talk about it," said Rose placing a finger and then a kiss against his lips, "Don't give yourself that pain anymore. There is something you could do Doctor, something to make it feel better."

The Doctor shook his head, "There's nothing."

Rose bent down and retrieved the photograph from the pocket of her robes, she handed it to the Doctor and watched as his eyes fell upon the Dalek image.

"They hadn't been created in this universe," Rose explained, "We intervened when the Thals and Kaleds started fighting and we got them to sign a peace treaty. The Daleks we encountered before I left our universe did not come from Skaro here and they didn't go near the planet. I met with Davros, I remembered him from your stories and we brought him into a weapons treaty that he has honoured, we even provided him with technology but it seems that despite our efforts we could not thwart the creation of the Daleks. I will need your help, perhaps together we can stop the threat."

"The project might be in its infancy," said the Doctor, his arms tightening around her, "You could…you could do what I failed to…destroy them before they have a chance to expand."

"And like you I cannot commit genocide on any species, not without proof they will become a threat. This universe is so different, there is still a chance we could halt the project or engineer it so the Daleks have a concept of right and wrong," said Rose, "I have to give them a chance."

The Doctor let out a humourless laugh, "I taught you too well," he said, "Oh God Rose why does this have to be on your shoulders?"

"Because I am the Doctor," she said, "And its my job but I have you by my side now and no doubt Mickey while he can be with us. Sumira and I are a good team but with you two, we might just tip the balance in our favour. We leave for Skaro in the morning but promise me one thing."

The Doctor tilted her face up to his, falling into the chocolate, ageless pools of her eyes, "Anything," he muttered, "I can hardly refuse you a thing after all this time."

"Don't tell them," said Rose simply, "Sumi fears the Time War and Mickey will get over excited. This mission needs to seem like any other diplomatic trip."

"You have my word."

"Good, now come on. Our friends are waiting and I for one am starving, plus I have ten years of you life to catch up on properly," said Rose, "And ten years of your kisses to steal back later."

She got to her feet but felt herself pulled back down onto the bed before his lips connected hungrily with hers. She wrapped her arms around him, not knowing whether to weep or laugh at the love he now openly showed her. He pulled away, dragging sweet, butterfly kisses across her cheeks and nose. He gave her his trademark boyish grin and she felt her heart soar at the sight, ten years rolling away like never before but her mind would not relax fully and she knew he felt it also. Her Time Lord gifts had not been solely her longevity. She could feel it, as he often had done before, the distant rumbling, the warning drum of an oncoming storm.


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor mused that he seemed to be losing the ability to breathe quite frequently since he landed in Rose's universe. The day and night he had experienced had been such a whirlwind it was only the quiet of the night, laying with Rose sleeping in his arms had he realised exactly what had happened to him. A lot of questions needed answering but he would be content for a while at least to follow Rose's lead and explore this strange new world. He had awoken to hear Rose in the adjoining bathroom, singing away to herself and it had taken him back to their life together on the TARDIS. He had propped himself up on the pillows and waited for her to emerge rather than getting up and he was glad of it because the sight of her as she exited the small room had rendered him without any motor functions what so ever.

Gone were the jeans and jumpers he fondly remembered from their times of travelling together. Rose stood in tight, black trousers that hugged her in all the right places and a low cut, black top. On her feet were heavy, military boots, not too dissimilar from the ones he had worn in his ninth incarnation but it was her coat that caught his attention with interest. Long, black and leather, it brushed the ankles of her boots, flared open to reveal her shapely legs before being buttoned up tightly around her waist, leaving the top of her frame open. The collar of her jacket came up against her neck, framing her face, her hair pulled back into a French plait behind her, and the sleeves flared at the bottom to reveal her slim, ivory wrists.

"Wow," was all he could mutter as he ran his gaze over her, "What's the occasion?"

Rose laughed at his expression as she fastened two leather gauntlets around her wrist, deftly fastening them one handed, "Its my uniform," she said, "I wanted the leather jacket look that you had when I first met you."

"I never looked that good in mine," said the Doctor, "You look gorgeous!"

Rose blushed deeply at the compliment, "It terrifies most people, Mickey says I look like a vampire but it works and I've got used to it over the years. I thought you looked good in your jacket, all dark and moody like you used to be but the suit works better on you now."

The Doctor shook his head as he watched her fuss with her hair in the nearby mirror, "You're so confident," he said, "I'm so proud of you."

Rose flashed him a smile before steepling her fingers together in front of her and murmuring into a small device on her left gauntlet. She opened her hands and a misty, blue sphere appeared around her fingers, she toyed with it for a second, expanding and then shrinking it with her fingers before clicking her fingers and causing it to disappear. The Doctor's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"That was a temporal field!" he cried, "How the hell did you do that?"

"Its one of Sumi's inventions, completely illegal but Rasillon turns a blind eye to me having it. Its called a temporal disruptor, it gives me limited control over time, like you lot have naturally," said Rose walking over to the Doctor and sitting on the bed next to him, "Don't think I don't know what you're capable of now."

The Doctor examined the device on her wrist before wrestling his jacket off the bed post and taking out his sonic screwdriver. He ran it over the device, humming appreciatively at the design, "That is so beautiful," he said, "Amazing work, Sumira must be very talented."

Rose nodded, "I'm lucky to have her," she said, opening the drawer of her bedside cabinet and pulling out a small knife that she stuck down the side of her boot and her own sonic screwdriver. She noticed the look on the Doctor's face and giggled, "I had a lot of cabinets to put up."

The Doctor laughed, noticing the design was not too dissimilar to his but when activated the light glowed a soft red rather than blue, "You really are the Doctor aren't you?"

Rose pressed a kiss to his lips before getting to her feet, "Just a well trained copy with a few nifty gadgets. You'd better get dressed, I need to head down to the Valiant and run some systems checks before we leave, unlike you I don't wait until something breaks," she said throwing him his trousers and shirt from the bed post, "There's some breakfast out in the living area that Sumi made while you were sleeping. Grab something and meet me down at the ship, we leave in an hour."

The Doctor gave her one of his excited grins as she made her way out of the bedroom before scrambling into his clothes, pausing only momentarily to regard the elegantly drawn picture of him that sat on the bedside table and smiling happily to himself.

XXXX

The landing bay was a bustle of noise and activity as the Doctor made his way into its heart, heading towards the Valiant. His own TARDIS had been moved to a small parking space near to the East wall, looking battered and worn against the TARDIS' on Gallifrey, all sitting in their true form. He smiled at the memory of when his TARDIS had born a similar shape but he was glad of the distinction now. Several of the on duty soldiers gave him a cautious look as he passed but he merely gave them a sarcastic wave as he passed them by. He noticed Mickey talking animatedly with several young crewmen and waved at him briefly before carrying on towards the Valiant. He stood outside the ship, admiring the subtle differences between his ship and Rose's. He noticed the small gaps above the door which intrigued him as to their purpose and made a mental note to ask Rose about it when they got a chance. He tapped on the door and then, finding it unlocked, pushed it open.

The interior of the Valiant took his breath away as it had done to night before, bathed in the soft green light of the central column the room was elegantly fashioned in sweeping chrome, all the edges upholstered in velvet to avoid any bumps on landing. The grates on the floor were covered by the same velvet fabric and the Doctor bounced experimentally on his toes. It was a very feminine look within the ship, but strong, like its pilot. He noticed the pilot's chair bore three seats rather than the two of his and that very little of the original control panel had been altered since the TARDIS' creation, unlike his which had been patched and re-patched over the years. The Doctor could almost see the newspaper add' TARDIS for sale, one careful lady owner.'

He started as a soft computerised voice rang out in the silence of the ship.

"Good Morning," it said, in his own language he realised, unaffected by the language translator, "Please state your designation."

"Um… I'm…"

"Designation John Smith," came Rose's voice from underneath the console, causing the Doctor to jump once again, "Crew member."

"Welcome John Smith," said the computerised voice, "I am designated Valiant."

"Nice to meet you," said the Doctor before crouching down next to Rose, "Your ship talks!"

"Of course she talks," said Rose, clambering out from under the console, "She prefers it that way and it gives me a chance to practice my Gallifreyan. Hope you don't mind me using your alias its just she recognizes me as the Doctor."

The Doctor watched in amazement as Rose began to work away at the computer screen, finding no difficulty with the Gallifreyan text swimming before her. He laughed softly to himself as he sat down in the captain's chair. He heard booted footfalls on the stairs behind him and turned to see Sumira dressed in grey army combats descending into the control room. She flashed him a friendly smile before reeling off several readings to Rose that made even the Doctor's mind ache with her rapidity.

"Weapons check shows we're battle ready just in case," said Sumira.

"Battle ready?" said the Doctor, "This is a battle ship? I thought it was a type 40, exploration only."

"Sumi made some upgrades," said Rose simply, "We end up in some pretty hairy territory at times so its nice to be prepared. I flip off the Chameleon cloak and we're a fully fledged battle cruiser. Those holes above the door that I saw you looking at on the monitor are gun turrets, I can fight off the majority of nasties without having to lose the Blue Box effect. Its always a bugger flying back to the fifties again and getting her to cloak properly."

The Doctor sat in stunned silence as Sumira continued her system's analysis and Rose pottered around the console flicking switches and turning dials. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably in his seat as his fingers itched to get involved but he held himself back, the Valiant was Rose's baby and he wasn't going to get involved. He looked up from the console as he heard the door open and saw Rasillon and Chancellor Ero walk onboard.

"Good morning President Rasillon. Good morning Chancellor," sang the Valiant softly as they entered.

Both men ignored the comment and the Doctor heard an indignant beep from the central console that sent him smiling, Rose's TARDIS was as moody as his then. Rose greeted her friends warmly, stepping back in sadness when Rasillon would take her hand but Ero wouldn't. She sighed sadly before returning her attentions to Rasillon.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Just about, just got to get Mickey onboard and then we're ready to go. Should make Skaro in fifteen minutes, I'm not going to throw her open to wide, just in case. I'll send a transmission when we land and I'll stay in communication whenever I can."

"Good," said Rasillon, "There is something we want you to have Doctor, not a good gift I'm afraid but a necessary one since we heard your stories of the Time War."

"Rasillon?" said Rose as he handed her a small disk, "That's not what I think it is, is it?"

"The Bad Wolf program," said Chancellor Ero, "For use against…"

"I know what its for," said Rose, "I designed it but I don't want it."

"You must take it," said Rasillon, "For everyone's sake Doctor take it and if you need to use it, you made an oath."

"But Rasillon…"

"That is an order Doctor and you will obey me."

"Yes sir," said Rose slipping the disk into the Valiant's central console, tears visible at the corner of her eyes, "You can trust that I will fulfil my oath if the necessity arises."

The charged atmosphere was only poorly alleviated as Mickey bounded into the control room like an excited puppy dog, throwing back a warm greeting to the Valiant's welcome. Rasillon nodded briefly to Rose before heading out of the door with Ero on his heels but Rose caught the Chancellor's sleeve before he could leave.

"Ero please," she begged, "Don't leave like this. We are friends."

"I don't know you Doctor, I never knew you," he said, "How can we be friends?"

Rose raised a hand to cover her eyes as he left the Valiant before taking a deep shuddering sigh and turning back to her companions, any sign of tears cleverly concealed under her confident mark. She noticed the questioning expression on the Doctor's face but her eyes told him not to query anything with her and he obliged, merely offering her a supportive smile as she began to move dials on the main console.

"Everyone ready?" she asked, fiddling with the destination controls.

"Careful that they're locked Rose, you could land a hundred years off the mark if you're not careful," said the Doctor getting to his feet and steadying her hands on the console.

He heard Sumira's snorted laughter and looked up to see Rose with an incredulous expression on her face, she wasn't used to being told how to fly her own TARDIS and found the Doctor's advice endearing and amusing. A restrained grin flitted across her face as she struggled not to laugh.

"Thank you, I'll bear that in mind," she said, giving his hand a brief squeeze in reassurance before releasing a nearby lever that sent the central column working. The Doctor huffed and leaned against the console as he watched Rose work, laughing at himself as he realised he had just advised Rasillon's best pilot on how to fly her own TARDIS. Rose as the Doctor was going to take a lot more getting used to. He was pulled from his thoughts as a warm hand closed over his and he looked up into her smiling face, amazed as she guided his hands to the controls.

"You going to help me then?" she said softly, a gentle smile playing on her lips, "Always a smoother ride with two. You keep her steady for me and I'll make sure we don't land in the wrong time line."

"You don't need me," he said.

"Yes, I do."

XXXX

The Doctor gripped Rose's hand tightly as they exited the Valiant to be greeted with several armed Kaled soldiers. Rose gave his hand a quick squeeze before pulling her hand away. She stepped forward to the guards, not phased by their weapons.

"I am The Doctor, I represent Gallifrey and I am on a diplomatic mission to see Davros, he is aware of my coming here today," she said, her voice resonating with a confidence the Doctor had only heard when she was consumed by the Bad Wolf.

"And your…companions?" said one of the guards, running a glance over her mixed band of friends, "Security Officer Sumira Lalerel and Second Officer Jonathan Smith of Gallifrey and Mickey Smith of Torchwood, a representative from Earth who is currently serving under my command. They were all authorised alongside myself to see Davros this morning as you are well aware and I'd hate to keep your master waiting with idle chatter, best you tell him we're here. Now get to it or do I have to get demanding?"

The guards shrank back slightly at her tone before pulling themselves back upright, "Yes Ma'am," one murmured as they disappeared back into the main part of the Kaled dome.

Rose turned to her friends, "I've just released I have two Smiths on board, this is going to get confusing," she said, "Just remember to call me Doctor here you two ok. Sumi, if they even start to say Rose kick them or something."

Sumira smiled wickedly, "My pleasure Doctor."

Rose turned back to the door as the guards returned and she followed them inside, her eyes alert for any changes in the dome since her last visit. Despite being three paces back she felt the Doctor stiffen as they moved further and further in. In the dim corridor she reached back and gave his fingers and featherlike brush before turning back to her task. Light flooded to corridor as another door slid open to reveal a sparse scientific laboratory, several men hunched over desks as they worked. She heard the familiar whirring of an all too familiar wheel chair and then the rasping, grate of her host's voice.

"Welcome Doctor, it is good to see you have returned to us and so soon after your last visit. How may I accommodate you?"

"Hello Davros," said Rose, her voice dangerously low, "Just a visit, wanted to review the details of the weapons treaty with you. That's alright isn't it?"

"Perfect," said Davros, "Come right this way."


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctor perched awkwardly on the edge of his seat as he watched Rose pace up and down in front of Davros, clearly angered as the Kaled leader deftly avoided giving her a straight answer. His first instinct within the Kaled dome was to get as far away as possible and the second was to make some ridiculously snarky remark just to break Davros' cool countenance. He was startled again as Davros' chair moved, the dimpled base so reminiscent of the Dalek shell that it sent shivers down the Doctor's spine just looking at it. Rose was still looking calm and collected but he could tell by her stiffened form that she was becoming annoyed with the situation.

"So you have made no developments with any weaponry what so ever since we left?" she said, rephrasing her question once more.

"I assure you Doctor we will report any such developments to the Senate as per our treaty with you," said Davros, his voice keeping a level pitch but in the Doctor's mind he could remember its screaming tone and he knew it wasn't long before it would be directed at them.

Mickey and Sumira watched the crippled half man in disgust as he began to wheel back and forth beside Rose, mimicking her movements.

"And no new life forms have been under development in your laboratories?" she said, "No mutations?"

"Are you suggesting Doctor that I would wish to play God?" said Davros, a tremor appearing ever so slightly in his voice.

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting. I'm suggesting that you are currently undertaking a project that convenes at least six articles of the treaty you signed with my people," said Rose, towering above Davros' chair, "Do you deny it?"

"I most certainly do," said Davros, his voice rising to a pitch that made both Mickey and the Doctor shiver in recognition, "Your accusations are both incorrect and insulting Doctor."

"Then you wouldn't mind proving me wrong," said Rose, "I want to see every single technological record for the last two years on this planet and I'm not leaving until I do so."

"As you wish," said Davros, "I shall return with the data you require. I will leave guards Doctor, you will be watched."

Rose gave him a sarcastic smile, "You're hospitality knows no bounds Davros."

He did not answer as he wheeled from the room, leaving two armed guards watching over the party. The Doctor watched on in interest as a look passed between Sumira and Rose that spoke volumes before Rose turned her back, bringing her fingers together and muttering into the device on her wrist. He saw the temporal field growing between her fingers as she stepped backwards towards the guards. When she was barely a pace away she turned and opened her arms wide, the blue-ish green light of the temporal field engulfing the guards and holding them in suspended animation.

"Sumira, quick, hack into that computer port and let's see what's going on," said Rose as Sumira moved to the nearest screen, her fingers working frantically over the keys.

The Doctor moved over to Rose as he heard her struggling to maintain the field around the guards. He moved behind her bringing his arms around her and covering her hands with his own.

"Need some help," he said as the light began to glow a little brighter and Rose's breathing became less laboured, "Better with two."

"Thanks," said Rose, "You know now I know you can do this you won't get away with sitting on your skinny behind anymore?"

"Problem is I don't do this that often," said the Doctor, his breathing becoming more ragged than usual, "This is gonna deplete most of me, I won't be able to do it again for a while. Sumira hurry up with that information."

"The Dalek project has been going on for ten years under our noses! Rose they've got a fleet at least twenty million ships strong and they have attack plans!" cried the younger time lord, "All the planets of the alliance, a simultaneous attack, including Gallifrey. Rose they've got a lock on Arcadia, troops are massing but they won't be able to detect them, they're frequency is below even the most advanced probe."

"That sounds like a Dalek ship," said the Doctor, "It's the Time War in fast forward, you need to get word out, you…"

Mickey and Sumi both shot to their feet as they heard both the Doctor and Rose cry out in agony as an energy bolt flew straight into the centre of the temporal field, knocking them both backwards with the explosion. Sumira screamed as the guards, released from Rose's hold, stepped to one side to reveal the cause of the blast. Mickey pushed her behind him as he watched the familiar eye stalk swing towards him and then over the unconscious forms of Rose and the Doctor.

"You have overstayed your welcome," said Davros as he rolled in behind the bronze Dalek, "You will interfere with our project no longer."

Sumira felt the sickness rise in her throat as she saw the slumped bodies of the laboratory workers beyond the open door. She looked down as she heard Rose stir on the ground, her hand coming up in attempt to stem the flow of blood from the gash on her forehead. She struggled to her feet, having to grip onto the desk to hold herself upright.

"Stay still," said Davros, "Or you will be exterminated!"

"I've been waiting all day for you to say that," said Rose, "Go on, scream it out at me Davros. Exterminate. Go on. That's what will happen to you, you know? Once the Daleks realise you're not truly one of them."

"The Dalek force responds to my commands and they will dominate all the species of this universe. Your interference on this planet only sealed the fate of your own. I let you see my plans and I intend to keep you alive so that you can see what will become of your people. You will co-operate or you will be exterminated."

Rose's strong demeanour shivered slightly as the Dalek swung its gun towards her but she hid it by bending down to the Doctor, pulling him up to sitting as he began to come round. He shot to his feet as he saw what was before him, paling dramatically as he moved too quickly, his head still spinning from the blast. He gripped onto Rose's hand as he noticed her shaking beside him but it was only her fingers that shook, her countenance swiftly returning to one of power. She strode up to the Dalek, peering into its eyestalk before circling it.

"I will stop you Davros," she said, "You have no idea who I am, what I have done before. I will stop you."

Davros' rasping laughter rang out in the small room, "You confidence will be your down fall Doctor."

"So will yours," said Rose, walking onwards beside her friends as the Dalek herded them to the door, his gun inches from Rose's back as she stalked through the corridors.

XXXX

The cell was sparse and grey as Rose, Mickey, Sumira and the Doctor slumped hopelessly against the walls. Attempts to contact Gallifrey had failed as Davros placed a communications jam over any Time Lord technology. Even one of Sumira's gadgets that enabled Rose to pilot the Valiant without even being inside was disrupted by the block.

"There has to be a way out," said Mickey, "What about the sonic screwdriver?"

"Dead locked seal," said the Doctor, "Nothing can get through it plus they left at least four Daleks out there and I don't fancy my chances against them unarmed."

"I should have just brought the fleet and blasted the bejesus out of this God forsaken rock," said Rose, "Now Davros has a fleet of Daleks ready to undertake the systematic annihilation of every planet in the alliance. I failed them all."

The Doctor went to Rose's side, holding her close against him as she cried, "Rose you didn't know. You acted the best way you could. If you'd come with a fleet you would have murdered innocent Thals and Kaleds alongside the Daleks and the ships were off world even before we arrived. There was nothing you could do to prevent this."

"But I knew it would happen," she cried, "I know what they were, what they would do and yet I advised the Time Lords to use caution. I learned nothing from you, all that time on the TARDIS and…TARDIS."

"What about the TARDIS?" said Sumira as she tried once again to contact Gallifrey.

"She's not from this galaxy and I ran a scan on her this morning, her make up is slightly different to the structure of our ships and her power source is still from the Doctor's universe," said Rose, completing a circuit of the room before any of them could blink, "Doctor what are the access codes for the TARDIS? The slave circuit codes?"

"I can't remember," he said shaking his head, "Its been hundreds of years since I used them."

"Think for God's sake. Wedding day? Child's birthday? Your birthday?" said Rose, fiddling with the tiny computer on her wrist, "Knowing you its probably your birthday. Eighteen…Ninety two…eight thousand and one…"

"How did you know…"

"Yes! Yes I'm in!" cried Rose, cutting him off short, "I can bring her here. Get you out, you can take Sumira to Gallifrey and warn them and then Mickey and you Doctor can go to Earth, raise Torchwood. They have star ships that we helped them build, enough fire power to help us if it comes to a counter attack."

"What about you?" said Sumira as Rose's fingers danced over the controls.

"Someone has to get the Valiant and distract them here, that's my job. They'll hear the TARDIS materialise in here and come in, I can get out while they're distracted."

The Doctor's hand pulled Rose's away from her computer, "I can't let you do that," he said firmly, "You'll be able to pilot my TARDIS, you get to Gallifrey, warn them and then get yourself clear. I'll deal with Davros."

"I'm sorry Doctor but that's not your decision," said Rose, "This is my mess, this is my Time War and I will stay here. You will go to Gallifrey and warn them, then you will take Mickey to Earth and you will assist Torchwood in coming to our aide. If we can hold the Daleks off at Gallifrey then the other planets will have a chance, I know Davros and he will send the mother ship to attack Arcadia."

"Rose don't try to be a hero, you'll get yourself killed."

"I'm doing my job!" she cried.

"Don't make me stop you," said the Doctor.

Rose wrenched her hand away from his grip, pulling herself up to her full height, "You forget, Officer Smith, that you are under my command on this mission and you will do as I say," she said before returning to her computer, the familiar rasping of the TARDIS beginning to fill the room as it materialised, "You will go to Gallifrey and you will fight for our freedom."

"Rose…"

"I am the Doctor," she said, her voice barely a whisper, "and you will do as I tell you."

As the TARDIS finished its materialisation the cell door opened and three Daleks, rolled in, their cries of EXTERMINATE, echoing in the room. The Doctor, Sumira and Mickey bundled into the TARDIS and the door bore the brunt of the Daleks' beams. Using the distraction Rose, slipped behind the Daleks and into the cold corridor. Pausing for a second as she heard the TARDIS dematerialise and the red alert sound throughout the building, before she began to run back towards her ship, pulling out the sonic blaster she'd hidden from the Doctor since the mission started.

XXXX

Vague reports of hostile fleets around alliance planets were beginning to flood the Arcadian communications deck. Alarms had been raised when the Doctor's TARDIS had disappeared of its own accord but concern rose when no one was able to hail the Valiant or its occupants. Chancellor Ero moved from console to console, matching read outs as they began to confirm his worst fears. The Dalek fleet that Rose had warned them off was destroying every alliance world in the nearby galaxy and reports from beyond weren't even managing to reach the Time Lords.

The landing alarm alerted Ero to the presence of an unauthorised and his heart soared as he saw the blue box materialising but the battered frame was not that of the Valiant and he ran down the stairs to see Sumira rush out of the doors before the ship dematerialised once more. The Chancellor rushed to the young girl as she collapsed in distress into the arms of the nearest soldier. Her sobs racked her body and her clothes bore the scorch marks of laser fire. Ero pushed the soldiers aside and pulled the girl up off the floor, rushing her to the side of the landing bay and sitting her down.

"Sumira what happened? Where's the Doctor?"

"She's…she's on Skaro. Ero we have to scramble to fighters and evacuate the planet. Rose was right about the Daleks, Davros has been building an army under our noses for ten years and now he seeks to destroy us. He has ships poised by every planet in the alliance and he means to destroy us. Ero we have to get everyone out of here otherwise we will be wiped out."

"And what of the other Doctor?" said Ero, shaking Sumira's shoulders as she descended further into sobs.

"He and Mickey have gone to Earth, Rose ordered them to. They've gone to raise help from Torchwood. Rose and I have been feeding them information to speed up their space program, they have fully equipped fighter ships that the Doctor will be able to slave to the TARDIS to bring them here quickly. Rose stayed on Skaro to see what she could do their but their were so many Daleks I don't know if she lived. Ero what will we do?"

"Fight," said Ero, "That's what the…Rose would do. She'd fight. Sumira raise the alarm and wake Rasillon, I want every able pilot to man a fighter. If Davros wants a fight he's got one. We're doing this for Rose, Sumi, we're going to do this for Rose."


	8. Chapter 8

The stench of death was not something you got used to, that's what Rose realised as she made her way silently through the Kaled Dome. Bodies of the Kaled soldiers littered the corridors and adjoining rooms, their faces twisted in horror and agony. Rose swallowed down the bile in her throat as she picked her way through the dim, grey corridors finding herself never more longing for the large sweeping halls of the Presidential Palace with its bright marble and shimmering golds. She had thought it all pomp and circumstance, something she had thought to look poorly on during her time with the Doctor but alone in nothing but blackness and death she found herself longing to be walking beside Rasillon in her silken robes into the fine and ornate Senate Hall.

The familiar whirr of a Dalek echoed ahead of her and she ducked into a nearby alcove, suppressing a scream as the body of a soldier slumped down against her arm, his face half missing where the Dalek beam had struck him hardest. The stench of burning flesh overwhelmed her senses, making her gag once again but she quieted as she saw two Dalek's roll passed, their eye stalks swinging back and forth but not falling upon her. She waited until they were a safe distance away before sneaking out of the alcove, uttering a silent prayer for the man she left there. She saw the corridor to the surface barely ten metres away from her and was ready to run to the Valiant but voices to the left of her caught her attention. She crawled to the edge of the door but couldn't hear well enough so slowly and silently she edged into the room, ducking behind the nearest desk as she saw Davros giving commands to two menacing looking Daleks, the bronze casing Rose was used to replaced by brilliant white and gold. She held her breath and prayed her heart to stop hammering so hard as she listened to Davros speak.

"The Time Lords will be aware of the attacks by now, even with the Doctor and her friends escaping us. The fleet has done sufficient damage on the alliance planets to raise the alarm but they have pulled back for the time being. Did you have any luck opening the Doctor's ship?"

The familiar screaming voice of the Dalek's echoed out in the room, "We were unable to enter the Doctor's time ship."

"Then we must move to stage two of our plan. The entire fleet will converge on Gallifrey and we will force them to hand over their secrets of time travel. Once we have their secrets we will be unstoppable. The universe will be purified in the image of the Daleks. I will send the transmission, go to your ships."

Rose pulled out her blaster to fire at Davros's chair but she was stopped as her sleeve caught on the metal support of the desk. She tried to wrench her arm free but it only caused the table to tip over, an almighty crash ringing out in the silent room. She felt the light from the Dalek eye stalks on her even before Davros began screaming orders.

"It is the Doctor! Exterminate her!"

Rose ducked behind the desk as the Dalek fire flew over her head, she could smell the burning ends of her hair and cursed under her breath, slightly proud that the language leaving her would even make the Doctor blush. She steadied her blaster, her sleeve finally free of the desk's grip. Shooting to her feet she aimed, the laser bolt from her gun powerful enough to blow the first Dalek wide open leaving the rotting green flesh to slop down onto the hard metal floor. The other Dalek swung round and fired. Rose vaulted over a nearby table, hitting the ground with a thud and rolling to safety behind a wall. She heard both Davros' and the Dalek's screams, the screams that had haunted her nightmares for twelve years. She knew they would haunt her for the rest of her days after this one. Gritting her teeth against the pain swelling in her side where she hit the floor, she pushed onto her feet, turning the corner to find herself face to face with a Dalek. In the split second it took for them both to fire she felt it slow down like something out of a movie. The safety device Sumira had installed on her gauntlet activated when it had detected the close range hostile fire, placing Rose inside a temporal field long enough for her to side step the Dalek fire and move to safety.

As she stepped away the field disintegrated and the Dalek casing exploded with the power of the laser fire while its own shot slammed harmlessly into the opposite wall. Rose turned to Davros, saw his finger poised over the transmissions command that would send the fleet to Gallifrey. She raised her gun, barely three metres away from him, closing her eyes she pulled the trigger. She heard nothing. At first she thought she had been deafened by the explosion of the final Dalek but then she heard the rasping, screaming laughter of Davros. Opening her eyes she saw his hand flip the switch that sealed Gallifrey's fate and with all her might she threw the useless blaster at him, catching him straight between the eyes. His laughter turning to a scream as his life left him. His body slumped forward in his chair and the room fell silent.

Rose slumped down to sit on her heels, looking around the carnage in the room. Tears welling in her eyes for the fate of Gallifrey and for her actions, she had never killed a humanoid in anger before, never struck someone down so deliberately and it hurt. She felt the shame in her actions despite their necessity and wondered whether the Doctor's hatred of guns was down to how often he'd had to commit such deeds. She knew now it was not guns she hated but her own hands. If the gun had worked Gallifrey could have stood a chance but she had failed, failed them all. She was even sending the Torchwood fleet to their deaths, if in fact there was a fleet left when the Doctor reached them. She looked down at her outfit, the long leather coat she had warn as her armour, her connection to him. She realised that she had dressed that way as if donning the coat made her as good as him but she knew it didn't, she was not the Doctor, she never had been.

The tears in her eyes, blurred the room before her, blocking of her sense of sight. It was then she heard it. The song. That song. She heard it so often in the night, in her dreams. Comforting and haunting in a heart beat. The power she had possessed, the memories she had, the choices she had to make. She could hear it inside her head. The Bad Wolf, the song of the TARDIS. She pushed to her feet, blinking away her tears before running from the room, not stopping until she hit the surface and bundled into the Valiant's control room.

"Welcome Doctor," sang the Valiant happily.

"We've got work to do old girl," said Rose, "We're going home."

XXXX

The communications tower of Arcadia was sinking under the weight of transmissions, planets reporting that the Daleks had ceased their attacks and were retreating but sensor readings, augmented to pick up the Dalek battle fleet, had detected more ships heading directly for the planet. Messages were sent back to the alliance planets, calling them to Gallifrey's aide as the Daleks began their assault. All able pilots were already in the air, TARDIS battle cruisers, smaller one man fighters and ships they had decommissioned long before they had even learnt the secrets of time, all were manned and in the air. An evacuation was impossible, the transport ships were unable to get through the Dalek blockade that surrounded the planet.

Ero and Sumira worked tirelessly side by side, issuing commands beyond their stations and being obeyed to the letter by the terrified soldiers. The sensors rang out in alarm as the Dalek ships began bombing the cities, hitting every major point on the planet except Arcadia. Instinct told them to be glad of it but both Ero and Sumira knew the city was being saved for a reason. Sumira's fingers danced frantically over the computer controls, attempting to augment the shields on the ships that were failing under the Dalek onslaught. Over her head phones she could hear the commands issued but she could also hear the screams as the fighters were taken out one by one. Her screen was lit with green dots representing her people and red representing the Daleks and her heart sank as each green dot faded to nothing and the red dots massed on the edges, surrounding the mother ship.

Even with augmented fire power the fighters were unable to penetrate the hull of the massive ship. Most could not even get close as they were picked off by the smaller Dalek ships or by the Daleks themselves as they flew freely from their transports, their aim and fire deadly as they increased the assault against the planet. Even a pilot's brave attempt at a suicide dive when his weapons systems failed did not even scratch the surface of the great ship. Sumira wrenched off her headphones as she heard his final screams.

"Come on Doctor," she said to herself, "Both of you."

XXXX

Materialising in space rather than on land was not something Rose enjoyed doing especially when she materialised in between one of her own ships and the Dalek it was currently firing on. She steered the Valiant out of the way of the fire, smiling grimly as she watched the Dalek exploded against the star studded sky. She flipped open her communications channel.

"Good shot!" she called.

She heard the whoop from the communications tower at the sound of her voice.

"Doctor you're alive!" called Ero, his voice crackling across the subspace transmission but Rose could still detect the emotion there.

"You know me Chancellor, never miss a party," said Rose, "Have we had any word from Torchwood? Any of the alliance planets?"

"Negative," said Ero, "Doctor we're not going to last much longer."

Rose gripped onto the console as the blast from an exploding time ship knocked her sideways, "Yes we are. I'm flipping to battle mode, about time I tried out all those gadgets Sumi installed."

Flicking off her chameleon cloak Rose could imagine the blue box exterior of her ship fading into the sleek, steel lines of the TARDIS' original form. The ship not quite as elegant as a battle cruiser but still deadly as she moved to her viewing screen, aiming the weapons she had only ever fired in battle once before. She concentrated her fire on the nearest Dalek ship, aiming for its middle disk where she knew its engines lay, a boring night with the Doctor in the TARDIS proving fruitful for once as she learned the weak spots of every enemy space craft in the universe. The rain of laser fire that flew from the ship nicked the surface of the Dalek craft but only scarred it. She banked quickly as it returned her fire, proving to herself once more why Rasillon named her his best pilot as she managed to dodge the onslaught from several nearby craft.

"Tricky buggers aren't they?" she said.

"I'll try and give you more shields Rose," came Sumira's voice over the noise of the battle, "She if you can manoeuvre yourself to the mother ship and take her out. Use the gun on the right turret, its loaded with double rounds."

"I'm on it. Sumi send out transmissions to the alliance planets again. Davros intends to send the entire fleet to us and we'll need as much help as we can get. Protect the TARDIS data as much as you can, that's what the Daleks want. Nothing is more important that preventing the Daleks from knowing our secrets."

Rose closed her communications link as she saw several Gallifreyan ships hit by Dalek fire, consumed by flame before they exploded, filling the sky with macabre fire works. She couldn't hear their screams but she could feel them. Her people dying and it made her bleed, her heart ripped out as she watched the floating debris on the viewing screen. She flew the Valiant towards the mother ship, reeling and slipping in between the Dalek ships as their fire scorched down the Valiant's sides. She saw the looming shape of the Dalek craft ahead, shooting down several ships that insisted on blocking her view. She wanted to open her communications, hear the Dalek's scream, perhaps becoming the Doctor made you lose all mercy but she could see his face in her mind and knew that despite what her feeling were towards her enemy, death was death and it should not be revelled in.

She heard the beep of the console as Arcadia hailed her and flipped back open her channels, weaving to within firing range of the mother ship before an unexpected bolt of laser fire from her left sent her spinning back towards the planet. She fought to regain control of her ship as she heard both Ero and Sumira's voices ringing out in dismay as she tumbled out of control. She pulled the Valiant up, the engines groaning in protest but obeying all the same.

"I'm alright," she said, not sure if she was reassuring her friends or herself, "I've got it."

"Doctor," came an unexpected voice.

"Rasillon," cried Rose, "What's happening down there, my sensors are shot?"

"The Dalek fleet is descending, several Daleks have already landed on the planet, we are close to being over run," said Rasillon, "Doctor we cannot hold them off much longer."

"Torchwood will come, you'll see. Just try to contain them Rasillon, use whatever means necessary. I'll try the mother ship again."

"Doctor you cannot even get close to the mother ship," cried Rasillon, his voice so desperate the Rose barely recognised it, "You need to fire the Bad Wolf."

"No!" cried Rose, "Torchwood will come Rasillon, give them a little longer."

"We do not have a little longer Doctor, we are being over run and the Daleks will learn the secrets of time travel and when they do every planet in this universe is at risk. You took an oath, fulfil it."

"I can't!" said Rose, gripping on to the console in an attempt to stop the sobs racking her body, "I can't do it."

"You designed that program in the knowledge that if it came to it you would have to destroy us. You know of what the Doctor did before, in his own world. Rose, the fate of the universe lies in your hands, you must fire."

Rose's hands stilled on the console, "Evacuate as many as you can and then I'll fire," she said her voice barely above a whisper.

"There's no time Rose, the ships can't get through the blockade."

"I won't fire on civilians. Rasillon don't make me do this, we can fight them."

She could almost imaging Rasillon drawing himself to his full height on the communications deck, his robes brushing his ankles and his high ornate collar fanning behind him in the colour of a sunrise. He was magnificent and commanding yet the sadness was there, the sadness that had been present since he had learned of the Time War and known that it would one day come to him. That is why he had helped her design the program, the weapon that would augment the power of the vortex within the Valiant causing an explosion large enough to destroy the planet and anything surrounding it. It had been her Doctors fate and now it was hers, to murder the people she loved. She heard her master's words as her hands set the co ordinates for the planet.

"Rose Tyler. You are a soldier of Gallifrey and you will do as I command you. Fire."

The communications tower quieted as they waited for Rose's affirmative, their saviour and their murderer, her small time ship poised to deliver the devastating blow that would wipe them out of existence forever. They bowed their heads as they heard her utter a childish prayer, one so often sung in the academies by the young children.

"And so when I lay down to sleep tonight, I'll call for you with all my might and please my Gods, please hear me pray, that you will bring me home to Gallifrey," said Rose softly, as her hands made short work over the console, one button left to be pressed, "Bad Wolf locked. I love you all. I'm so sorry."


	9. Chapter 9

Rose's fingers hesitated on the trigger, she could almost hear the silence that was to become of the planet below her and it roared in her ears. Steeling herself she took a deep breath, decided to act. She felt the pressure building in her fingertips, so close to destroying all she cared about.

"Valiant hold your fire!"

Rose snatched her hand away from the console as if it had burned her as a voice rang out in the static of the radio.

"Who is that?" she called, her sensors still refusing to co-operate with her.

"This is the good ship TARDIS," came a familiar and welcome voice, "Rose, take the Bad Wolf offline. I've got sixty ships from Torchwood with me and we got a transmission out to the other alliance planets, reinforcements are on their way."

Rose didn't know whether to laugh or cry as the Doctor's voice rang out around her and the sound of laser fire cut through the atmosphere as the Torchwood ships tore into the Dalek fleet.

"You do like to make an entrance don't you!" she cried, "You're bloody late Doctor! Is Mickey with you?"

"He's in one of the ships, looks like you're not the only one who became a pilot," said the Doctor, "Rasillon, Sumira has a program that creates temporal fields, it can augment any natural abilities your people have. Invert the power cells and you've got one hell of a blaster, just enough to blow a Dalek to pieces. Ero, I need you to put a call out to all craft, get half to form a barrier between the Dalek fleet and the planet, concentrate their fire on the central hub, that's the engines. The other half need to cover the Valiant. Mickey, take your Torchwood ships around to the other side of the planet and pick off any of the smaller ships around there. Everyone understood?"

The ring of enthusiastic affirmatives rang out across the Gallifreyan and Torchwood fleets and Rose felt her heart rising as she picked off several Dalek craft with renewed vigour. She heard the Doctor curse a blue streak and her heart fell once again.

"Doctor what's wrong?"

"I've got a crafty one on my tail," he said, his voiced strained with the effort of piloting the unwieldy blue box in a battle situation, "Rose I'm useless to you in the sky, I'm unarmed. I'm going to the surface but I'm going to help you. I have a plan ok. Just keep doing what you're doing. Ero make sure your boys keep her safe, we need the Bad Wolf programme still."

"We've got her," came Ero's voice over the radio, "East group, North group, get to the Valiant and keep our Doctor safe. Presidential Guard I want you to keep the blue box safe, get the other Doctor to the ground, give him all the support he needs."

"Thank you Chancellor."

"We need you," was Ero's only reply as the fleet broke off, several ships surrounding the TARDIS and the two groups flanking the Valiant.

Rose continued her assault against the Daleks, giving the rest of the Gallifreyan fleet a chance to form a line near to the planet, forcing the Dalek's back as several Torchwood ships and others she recognized from other alliance worlds joined the assault. She heard the cheers as the Dalek force was pushed back from the planet, small ships Rose recognised from Tilif Prime going one on one with the Dalek soldiers and blowing them out of the sky. She saw the TARDIS and her escort disappear behind the line and listened intently for the Doctor's voice to come over the subspace radio. All the time she waited blowing Dalek upon Dalek out of the sky, proving to herself that Rose Tyler was indeed the greatest ever TARDIS pilot.

XXXX

The Doctor exited the TARDIS into an onslaught of laser fire. His idea had clearly worked as he watched the Gallifreyan soldiers, the guns crudely and swiftly adapted, suspend the Dalek drones in a temporal freeze before their lasers swept through, blowing the outer casing apart. Flanked by several grounds troops as the Presidential Guard returned to the battle in the air, he ran to the communications tower, sweeping passed Rasillon as he swiftly took a seat in between Ero and Sumira who were still frantically working away as reinforcements poured in from the nearby alliance planets. The screen before him flashed up the familiar swirling script and he quickly bypassed the access codes with a blast from his sonic screwdriver. The action caught a disapproving look from Ero, who looked more normal than the Doctor would have thought possible, his long robes tossed to one side and wearing the same military jump suit of black and silver worn by the other soldiers, but no comment came his way.

The Doctor could only remember working this frantically when he had been trying to contain the Dalek at Van Stattens museum as he brought up onto the screen the co-ordinates and access codes he would need to follow through with his plan. He pulled on a headset, fidgeting as he remembered how much he'd hated communications duty when he had been on his own planet but committing himself to his task.

"Rose?" he said, "Rose can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," came Rose's reply, "Whatever this great plan of yours is Doctor now would be a good time to tell me, these little cretins are getting a bit pissed off with me, their starting to act like angry little wasps and trust me, they sting. They've knocked my sensors offline totally, I'm flying by sight alone."

"I'll see what I can do," said the Doctor his fingers working over the keys, glad to find that the majority of operating systems did not differ from his own Gallifrey, "That helping?"

"I've got short distance but nothing beyond a couple of miles. Ero can you keep a couple of boys close to act as my eyes?"

"East one, North five, stay close to the Valiant, act as her long range sensors and keep those Daleks off her tail," said Ero, "Doctor you need to re-route power to your shields on your left side, their failing."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak but Rose cut him off.

"Before you can answer Doctor, he means me. I've got them Ero," she said, "Doctor what do I need to do?"

"Get the Bad Wolf back online but I want you to detach the vortex power supply from it and attach it to the supply for one of your smaller guns," said the Doctor.

He heard the mutterings over the radio and then Rose's pained groan, "Doctor I'm not a weapons tech, I've got no idea how to do it. If I try and re-route the power the Bad Wolf goes offline."

"Its okay Rose, I've got you honey," he said, turning his attention back to the screen in front of him, "I need your override codes, the Valiant's blocking me out."

"Doctor if I give you the codes I won't have any control."

"I only need them for a second," said the Doctor running the sleeve of his coat over his forehead to remove the thin film of perspiration, "Is it me or is it warm in here?"

"We've moved the power from the coolers to the shields," said Ero, his hair dampened down against his head as he worked, "We'll just have to fry for a bit."

"Hear that Rose, they're making me toast," he said humourlessly, "Now what are your codes?"

"Day we met and my birthday," said Rose, "Think you can remember both?"

"Of course I remember," said the Doctor indignantly as he typed in the codes and re-routed the Bad Wolf's power source.

"Well you are a man," said Rose as her ships systems came back under her own control, "Ok, what do I do now?"

"Fly for the mother ship, Ero make sure those troops stay close to her."

Ero relayed the commands to the troops and the Doctor watched their progress on the screen before him, wincing every time a green light flickered and died. He waited until they were in position and then resumed his command.

"Rose, I need you to aim for the engines, just like I told you on the smaller craft. Fire the Bad Wolf and then for God's sake get out of there, that is going to cause one massive explosion and you get caught in the fall out I don't think even full powered shields will withstand it. Knock out the mother ship and the others will get muddled, give us a few seconds to knock them out. All Gallifreyan pilots and all alliance fighters be ready when I give the command and blow those animals to Kingdom Come."

Rose manoeuvred the Valiant within long distance range of the mother ship, her sensors locking onto the ship's hull. She heard the chatter of commands flying back and forth over the radio, heard the encouraging words of the Doctor as he watched her progress from the tower below her. She saw fighters scrambling towards the nearest Dalek ship, ready for the Doctor's command on impact. She fired.

"Targeting Systems offline," came the Valiant's sing song voice as the weapon failed to discharge.

"I've got a problem," said Rose, "My long range systems are offline, it won't fire without them. I need to go closer."

"Rose you go closer and that blast will destroy you. Give me a second, I'll try and get your systems back online, " said the Doctor.

Rose flipped a nearby switch, preventing the control tower from slaving her ship. She watched on the viewer as the massive ship turned towards her, its sensors recognising the magnitude of the weapon on board.

"She's spotted me," said Rose, "I have to go in, blow her up before she blows me up."

"Rose get out of the sky!" cried the Doctor in despair, "You go any closer and the explosion will rip you apart."

Rose paid him no heed as she weaved closer to the ship, avoiding the laser fire that tried to pick her off. She cursed as the side of her ship was struck, forcing her into a tailspin but she pulled the ship back under control. Hearing Ero call for the other troops to get clear and watching as they did so.

"Doctor," came Ero's voice, "You will disengage."

"That mother ship needs to go boom," said Rose through gritted teeth, "You just keep those fighters close to the other ships and when it blows you fire."

Rose could almost feel the heat and anger radiating from the ship before her, its massive hull dwarfing the Valiant despite its battle mode form. Rose ran her hand over the console, silently passing on her affections to her ship. She could hear the Doctor's voice pleading with her, Mickey's and Sumira's joining him as they became aware of her plight. It wasn't long before Rasillon's voice joined them.

"Doctor disengage," he commanded, "You will return to the surface."

"I'm afraid I can't do that sir," said Rose forcefully, "My planet needs me and this time she is going to live if I have to give my life doing it."

"I order you to disengage Doctor!"

"I'm not the Doctor," said Rose, "I'm Rose Marion Tyler and I'm the best God damn TARDIS pilot in the universe. I'll get out of there don't you worry. Doctor?"

"Rose please don't do this…"

"Doctor thank you!" she said, picking off several Dalek drones nearby as the mother ship swung her gun turrets round to face the Valiant, "You showed me how to live and I love you for it. Have a fantastic life my angel!"

"Rose no!" cried the Doctor as he pulled off his head phones, struggling to his feet to watch the massive hulk of the mother ship in the dark atmosphere above him.

He heard Rose's voice yell out in a final burst of energy, crying his name as she pushed the button and released the full onslaught of the Bad Wolf against the mother ship. He watched as the fire ripped through the hull, miniature explosions giving way to one massive fireworks display across the night sky. He heard the ecstatic cheers as the Dalek ships became confused as their communication systems went down and they gradually one by one fell out of the sky. He didn't know how long he stood there watching as fire and debris tore through the sky, didn't know how long it was until he started praying. Any second, any second now her voice would sound over the radio, she'd call in with a cheer and a crow that she was by far the best pilot that ever lived. She'd land and she'd tell him that she loved him as he held her in his arms. They'd dance at the party the Rasillon would call, the Time Lords victorious in the Time War. He'd find his peace in that he had saved this world if not his own and then they'd race through the stars side by side as it always had been, happy and together.

He heard the tapping of Sumira's nails on the keyboards, heard Ero's voice sending message after message out to the Valiant, calling out for the ship, for the Doctor, for Rose. He heard the sobs as the calls went unheeded. Felt the soft, warm hand on his shoulder as Sumira raised herself up from her seat, tears coursing down her face unchecked as she attempted to pull him into her embrace, muttering consoling words that the Doctor turned away from in disgust. He sat beside the console, tapping away frantically on the keyboard. The message flashed up clear as day before him. No signal found. Not a life sign, no signature of the ship, no radio transmissions, just static, dead, useless static. The Valiant wasn't there, blown to pieces by the weapon that had saved the life of every other person in the universe. The Doctor felt the anger burning in him then, the anger that the universe should live when she had to die. She was not meant to have a Time War and yet she had been braver than he had ever been, sacrificed herself for billions upon billions. He cursed himself for bringing the fleet. If she had fired the Bad Wolf she might have survived like he did when he fired the weapon that destroyed his own Gallifrey. He would have found her, got her home somehow and they would have been together but now all he had was the empty cheers of the city below him and the deep, gaping wound where his hearts had once been.

"Report," he murmured softly, "TARDIS Valiant destroyed. No survivors. She's dead."


	10. Chapter 10

The message had spread out across Gallifrey about the death of their Doctor and the people wept despite their elation at their victory. The majority of ships from the alliance planets returned to their home worlds to aide with the clear up operations from the Daleks' initial attacks but the Torchwood force, knowing Earth had not been too badly damaged, stayed to assist the Time Lords. Humans and Gallifreyans worked together in the massive base in Arcadia, rebuilding space craft, tending to the sick and wounded, cataloguing the names of the dead and informing their families. The Doctor wandered aimlessly amid the organised chaos, not hearing the gentle words of comfort from those around him, ignoring the cheers as friends and families were reunited. He saw the ship he was seeking, relieved in part that it was still in one piece. He jogged the last few steps over, running a hand over the Torchwood insignia on the side of the craft before helping its pilot out onto the landing bay. No words needed to be spoken as the Doctor pulled Mickey into a hug, both of them crying for their loss and not caring who saw.

"Where's Sumi?" said Mickey, his voice a choked shadow of its normal self.

"She's with Ero and Rasillon," said the Doctor, "She's in a bad way, so is Ero…they…I…I heard her die Mickey. I heard her scream."

Mickey stood fighting back the sobs as the Doctor slid down the space craft onto his heels, crying into his hands, not caring as his coat dragged in the oil and blood still staining the landing bay floor. He knotted his fingers into his fly away hair, tugging as if the pain would numb that in his hearts. He felt Mickey sit down next to him.

"She died a hero," he said softly, "She would have wanted it that way. This was her planet."

"She shouldn't have been here," said the Doctor, "I should have done what I promised Jackie and taken her away from this place the second I got here."

Mickey's snorted laughter contained no humour as it escaped him, running his hands over his face to wipe away the tears, "She wouldn't have gone. These passed two days with her again, seeing who she has become, she loved this place and she wouldn't have left it, not even for you."

"The only reason she came here is me. She had some ridiculous romantic notion about this place but its poison, the whole of its poison and I hate it. All Gallifrey has ever brought me is pain and now its taken her from me," said the Doctor smashing his fist into the steel floor beneath him, "I wish she'd never heard of me. I wish I'd left her the first time she said no to travelling with me."

From the corner of his eye he could see the black boots of a soldier and looked up into the young man's face, swathed with bandages over one eye and a shattered helmet under his arm.

"You knew the Doctor?" he asked.

The Doctor steeled himself, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, "Yeah I did, she was my best friend."

"I can't tell her so me and the boys, we wanted to tell you, thank you. She was amazing. No one knew who she was but she was the best thing to ever happen to us," said the young soldier, his fingers twitching against the helmet he carried as if ready to run from the crying man before him, "I was in the East group that flanked her when she went for that ship, she was so brave going that close in, she…"

The Doctor raised his hand and pushed up to his feet, "Please…whatever your name is…spare me the details. I don't want to know. She's dead, that's all I need. No declarations of how she was a hero or how brave she was, that doesn't bring her back to me."

"I'm sorry, its just…"

"Leave him be," said Mickey, laying a hand on the soldier's arm as the Doctor stormed off back into the palace, "He's in a lot of pain right now."

The Doctor's eyes were so blurred with tears that he didn't notice Rasillon until he collided with him in the doorway to the palace. The president steadied him gently as he swayed on his feet, his body and mind failing to co-operate. The Doctor saw Ero and Sumira standing behind the older man, gripping on to each other in a way that was usually looked down upon by the planet's government but for once convention did not prevail. He watched as Ero extended a hand for what the Doctor assumed at first would be a gesture of comfort but then he saw a small device in his palm and he took it. He recognized it as a message recorder, one that could be plugged into the TARDIS console, it was an old design and make but would still be functioning.

"She recorded this when she arrived," said Ero as the Doctor examined it, "And she told me if she was to ever die and that a man who loved her was to come to this planet then I was to give it to him. I think we both know who she meant. I know its no consolation Doctor but take it, listen to it."

"Thank you," murmured the Doctor, closing his hand around the tiny device before slipping it into his coat pocket, "I'm…I need your help, to go home. Sumira if you could would you check over my TARDIS to make sure the shields are still functioning, I'd like to go back to my own dimension. I can't…I don't want to stay here, see this all put beck together, see people live on with her gone."

"Of course," said Sumira, "Once the injured have been seen to I'll look at the ship, you should be ready to go by tomorrow. Doctor she…"

"I know Sumi. She was a hero," said the Doctor as he turned away from the band and back to his own TARDIS, slamming the door behind him against the noise of the landing bay.

XXXX

A day had passed since the defeat of the Daleks and night had fallen again over Arcadia. The landing bay was quiet save for the occasional clank of the TARDIS as Sumira fiddled beneath its console, augmenting the shields already in place for the Doctor's return to his own dimension. The Doctor himself was propped up on the console room chair, picking mindlessly at the patched up cloth with his fingernails. He hadn't moved from the chair since the night before, simply sitting and pondering over the events that had played out like a hurricane reeking havoc throughout his life. He cursed silently in every language he knew, weeping silently for everything he lost, not just Rose but for the memories of his own people that he failed to save. Sumira's presence had stopped the tears but his mind still wandered aimlessly in the pits of despair.

He almost laughed at himself as he thought he heard the gentle, fluid rasp of the Valiant's engines in the night's silence. The gentle throb that ran through the console room floor as it sounded louder. He heard the loud clang of bone against metal as Sumira's head impacted solidly with the base of the central hub and then he heard the sound of the red alert as it rang throughout the landing bay, the sound of booted feet as they descended to meet their uninvited guest. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to pull himself back to reality before Sumira grabbed his hand, reality smacking him hard in the face as his feet connected with the floor and then he was running. Running and crying, pushing back the guards as he watched a familiar outline fade into existence before him. A Blue Box, a battered old blue box with a little flashing light on the top. He paled in realisation, Rose's ship had been in battle mode when she had faced the Dalek mother ship, the image before him had to be an illusion.

He rubbed his tired eyes as the noise faded and the box stood silent in the landing bay, every pair of eyes in the room trained on the door, willing it to open. The Doctor took a step towards the box, tentatively reaching a hand out and caressing the wooden exterior that he knew wasn't wood at all. He stepped back as he heard the lock on the door click and slowly swing open. His heart stopped beating as he stared at the figure before him, bloodied and battered but totally and utterly beautiful, her long leather jacket bearing a tear or two but her silhouette still the same. He heard the cheer go up from behind him but paid it no mind as he held out a hand, willing it to be taken, to confirm everything he was seeing. Warm, ragged fingers curled around his and a foot took a tentative step forward and then another before collapsing into his arms. Holding him close as if it was the first and last time it could be done.

"How did you…"

"Told you I was the best god damned pilot in the universe."

"Rose," he said into her hair, pulling her closer still, "God Rose its you!"

She pulled back to look at him, brushing away the tears on his cheeks as her own flowed freely down her face, "Of course its me. You're the only other person dumb enough to drive around in a big blue box," she said sobs choking her words, "I couldn't leave you all lonely again could I?"

"But how did you…You're ship…you…we saw…"

She smiled fondly up at him, gripping tightly around his neck and smiling all the wider as she noticed both Ero and the President frantically descending the stairs behind him, "When you form a coherent sentence I'll be able to answer you."

"How did you escape?"

"I programmed a time jump, as I hit the button for the Bad Wolf I let the TARDIS jump. Landed in the ninety fifties on Earth, had to get my baby back into shape."

The Doctor pressed a desperate kiss to her lips, pulling her as close as he could and still not finding it close enough, "You're a stupid, stupid woman," he said pulling back and resting his forehead against hers, "There was a one in a million chance of that working. You stupid, wonderful, brilliant woman!"

"I did it for you," she said against his shoulder, "For you my Doctor. Your planet does live on, the Time Lords will live on because of you. I never would have known what to do without you."

"Yes you would," he said pulling her close once more, "Because you're Rose Tyler."

XXXX

Being reunited with her friends was something Rose would not easily forget in a long time. Mickey cried, Sumira screamed, Rasillon span her round like a rag doll and Ero held her so close she feared she would never be released from his arms again and yet she revelled in his warmth, crying into the silken robes she knew so well. Cheers and celebrations had rung out in the landing bay and she had told the tale of her escape so many times she barely had to think whenever someone asked. She heard of her people's successes, how the Daleks had been destroyed, any remaining to be hunted down by the new task force Rasillon had commissioned. The Time Lords were no longer to be dusty senators but were to go out into the universe, hunting down evil and making sure it never prevailed. Rose listened to their stories and their dreams but her mind resided solely on the man at her side, the man she had fought for, the man she had died for. She had sacrificed herself as he had done for her, given herself to save him from his demons and as she saw him watching her, smiling that same boyish grin that had won her heart a hundred times over, she knew that whatever came in the future, while he was by her side, she was home.

XXXX

Days and nights had seemed to merge since the defeat of the Daleks and it was only the longing to feel the cool, silk of her bed sheets against her skin that pulled Rose from her friends the night after her return. She perched on the end of her bed, her eyes trained on the long black, leather jacket that hung haphazardly over the bed post, all the tears expertly stitched but one, angry scorch mark still marring one of the sleeves. She picked it up, folding it in her hands before wrapping it in a spare sheet from her closet, setting her sonic screwdriver and the TARDIS key on top of it. She heard the door to the bathroom click open and returned to her place on the bed as the Doctor came to her side, his hair damp and his shirt only half buttoned over just his suit trousers. He threw her one of his customary grins as he sat down and leant back against the pillows, opening his arms to her. Rose scooted up the bed, resting her head on his chest and counting the dual beats of his hearts against his cheek.

"I have a confession to make," she said against him.

"I already know you love me," said the Doctor against her hair, his face falling as his comment wasn't met with a laugh, "Rose?"

"I did find you," she said, "When we met the Time Lords. The TARDIS that crashed is the Valiant, her pilot had died and she had no one to love her so I took her on. I searched for the Doctor through all the archives, he didn't exist but then I remembered a picture you showed me after we met Sarah Jane, your fourth incarnation. There were no records except one entry, from an old college professor, not a real name, just a nickname. Theta Sigma. All records of him had been removed from the archives, he had run away from Gallifrey, stolen a TARDIS and run across the stars. He never took a pseudonym, never took the title but I knew who we had found. The man who would have been the Doctor had died in the crash, failed to regenerate. He left behind a son and a baby grand daughter but she was never to know about him, he was not to be mentioned again on Gallifrey even after the stolen TARDIS had been recovered. Doctor I found you but Gallifrey was to be without you so I took your place. I know that Theta Sigma was your college name, though I know I'll never know your birth name. I know when you were born and I know that Sumira was born Adella, her name changed to protect her because it was the same as your mother's. That's why I took her on, I knew she would have her grand father's spirit and I wanted her to know what she was being protected from. She's yours Doctor, this is all yours."

She felt his lips move the hair on her head, "I know. I spent a lot of time thinking when I thought I'd lost you. You let me know things you shouldn't have known and I knew you had found me but he was not me Rose, nor is Sumira my grand daughter. I do not belong in this universe, I have no claim to anything."

Rose sighed against him, "When are you going to ask me?"

"Ask you what?" said the Doctor as Rose snuggled deeper into his arms.

"Ask me to come away with you," said Rose, "Ask me to come home?"

"I didn't know if you wanted to," said the Doctor, "You seem so settled here. Will you come away with me Rose? Will you come home?"

"Yes," she said raising herself up to face him, straddling his hips and pulling his face up to hers for a kiss, "I'll run away with you, race across the stars with you."

"Love me?" said the Doctor gently unfastening the tie holding her dressing gown together.

"I've always loved you," said Rose shrugging off the garment before giving his shirt the same treatment, "Can you give yourself to me my darling? Can you finally give me your heart?"

The Doctor nodded before pulling her against him for a kiss that set fireworks off behind her eyes before lowering her down onto the bed, whispering against her ear.

"My Rose Tyler," he murmured softly, "You have had my heart since the day I met you. I love you."

"Love you too, my Doctor."


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor looked down at the sleeping form beside him, brushing the loose tendrils of chocolate hair back from her face. She murmured softly in her sleep but didn't stir, her hand slipping from its place over his hearts onto the white sheets covering them. Slipping out of the bed, the Doctor pulled on his suit trousers and shirt, creeping around the room so as not to wake the sleeping figure before him. He rifled in his jacket pocket, pulling out the TARDIS key and the small message disk Ero had given him. Picking up his plimsolls from the floor he tiptoed out of the room, clicking the door softly closed behind him. Perching on the ridiculously ornate couch Rose had insisted was Sumira's, he pulled on his shoes, groaning to himself as he realised how uncomfortable they were without socks but refusing to go back into the bedroom and risk waking Rose.

He crossed the room and pushed open the door, blinking as the light from the corridor hit his sleepy eyes full force. He ran a hand over them and shook his head, wishing he'd thought to pick up his glasses but again refusing to return. He made his way through the corridors, pausing now and then to admire the elegant statuettes and drapes that decorated the vast space, his own memories of Gallifrey, happy and sad, coming back to him as he walked. He passed one particular corridor and smiled to himself, an image of a small boy with light blonde hair and ridiculously long robes running towards him, arms spread wide. He saw his first incarnation, still young before his eyes, pick up the child, listening to the chatter that always echoed after any time apart. He shook his head as the memory faded, committing the feeling to his memory, life on Gallifrey hadn't always been bad.

Before he realised it, he was standing at the door to the landing bay. He pushed it open, causing a sleepy guard to jump to attention, laughing as he saw him holding his gun upside down but choosing not to comment as he was waved on by an unenthusiastic hand. He made his way over to the TARDIS, smiling as it sat side by side with the Valiant, the differences in them only visible to those who loved them well. He pushed open the door and felt the ship thrum back a welcome through the flooring grates. He flipped a few switches before inserting the small message disk into a port on the console. Flopping down into the captain's chair he waited as the grainy, black and white image flickered into view. Rose stood before him, still blonde he noticed by the lightness of her hair but the leather jacket already in place, wrapped around military issued combats. She smiled, that sweet innocent smile that he loved, the one he knew he wouldn't see her smile again despite her happiness because she had seen too much of the universe, seen too much evil. She fiddled nervously with the hem of her sleeve as if pondering what to say before a mischievous look passed over her features.

"This is emergency program one," she said in a ridiculous northern accent that set the Doctor laughing, "Doctor now listen."

The image laughed alongside the Doctor as he had to grip onto the seat to prevent him from falling off.

"I always wanted to do that," said the image of Rose but then her face fell into a more serious look, instantly sobering the Doctor, "If you're watching this Doctor then, well it means a lot of things. I don't know if you'll ever find a way through to this universe, I don't know if you'll come if you do but I'm recording this all the same. I gave this recording to my friend Ero here on Gallifrey, he works as a commander of the fleet under my President Mora, don't worry he's not a pretty boy but he is a very dear friend."

The Doctor sighed as he watched the image before him, seeing the play of emotions on her face as she spoke of her friends, laughing lightly at the pretty boy comment, he was glad that he could never consider Ero pretty.

"If you have this recording though Doctor it means that I have probably died but I'm sure, well I'm not sure but I hope that I died fighting for this wonderful planet that I have found. I found Gallifrey and I'm sure you will have found someone from Torchwood on Earth that has told you everything before you came here so I'll spare you the details. I just want to let you know some things that I never got to tell you. Its five years since I lost you, five years since I told you I loved you but you never said it back but that's ok, I understand. If you love me or if you don't that doesn't change how I feel and I don't want you to feel bad because I feel that way. You were the most wonderful person I have ever met, you were so many things to me its hard to express here now."

The Doctor felt the tears welling behind his eyes as she spoke, she had doubted his affections for her but she had forgiven him, went on loving him even though he had failed to tell her what he had wanted to since the day he took her hand. He watched her gentle smile, the light reflecting in her eyes as she spoke to him as if he was there.

"My darling Doctor," she continued, "Above and beyond all else you were my best friend. We did so much together, saw so many beautiful things and I don't regret a second of the time we spent together but you were more than a friend. I thought when I found Pete that I had found the man who was meant to be the most important in my life, my father but its only now I realise that I didn't need to find him at all. I know it sounds strange but you were like a father to me at the start, or a really annoying older brother, you taught me so much, protected me, nurtured me, made me a better person. You were there for me when my Dad couldn't be perhaps that's why we grew so close because you were always there for me to rely on."

The Doctor brushed the tears off his cheeks at her words, pride and love welling inside his chest as he thought her words the most elegant tribute he had ever received. He wanted to reach out and hug the image to him, tell her how proud he was of her but she did not stop to consider his tears, the image merely talking on, tears forming in her eyes.

"We used to lark around like brother and sister, I always wanted a big brother, someone to beat up my useless boyfriends but instead you just called the decent one an idiot. You'll be proud of him too Doctor, he's got a good job now and a lovely girlfriend, he did really well," Rose continued, her arms coming up to wrap around her frame, one hand straying under her collar to pull out the TARDIS key on a chain around her neck, fiddling with it as she continued as if it would give her strength.

"I don't know when our hugs became more than just a sign of friendship. I can't remember when my heart started to beat faster whenever you looked at me. I know it was before you regenerated, even with those big old ears of yours, that silly grin. You were so handsome, in both your incarnations but it was you, the man inside, that's who I fell for. My lonely god. The one I will always pray to. Doctor, darling Doctor. I hope you have other companions, I intend to take someone with me on my travels, always said it was better with two, and I hope you love them and show them everything you showed me. I am going to race through the stars like we always did, I'm going to live everyday as if its my last and I am going to give my heart and soul to the universe because that's what my teacher would have wanted, the man who is the most precious thing a universe can have. So I'll stop rambling now, I really am turning into you, I'll stop rambling and I'll just say, Doctor, I love you and I miss you and please don't cry for me because I'm happy, I'm free. Live on angel. Live on and fight on for everything you believe in and I'll be with you always, always your Rose Tyler."

The Doctor covered his eyes with his hand as the image blew him a delicate kiss and then winked out. He was glad he hadn't considered watching the message before Rose had returned to him, he knew if he had he would have died on the spot from his grief. He brought his knees up to his chest, hugging them close as he tried to calm himself, convincing himself that she was safe by his side and that he could return all the love she had given him in her words. He didn't hear the TARDIS door open, nor the gentle hiss as the disk was removed from the console and returned to the fabric of a pocket. He jumped in surprise as he felt two arms curl around his shoulders but then the familiar perfume hit his senses and he didn't need to open his eyes as he leant into the comforting embrace.

"I meant it all Doctor," said Rose softly against his hair, "And I mean it still but I don't want you to dwell on that message because we have a future now, we can live on together."

The Doctor looked up at her, laughing at himself as he considered what he must look like, "I've done nothing but cry these passed few days, you must think I'm a right weak git."

"Just a sentimental old fool," said Rose, "Come on, its still a few hours until sunrise and we both need the rest. Doctor, when we leave will you take me to Barcelona? You never did in the end."

"To Barcelona and back again," said the Doctor getting to his feet, "And then who knows where, we'll make it up as we go along."

"Sounds…"

"Fantastic," finished the Doctor as they left the TARDIS.

XXXX

Rose usually despised Senate Meetings but this time she had been the one to call it, summoning not just the Senate but all who had been close to her during her time on Gallifrey. She stood before them, dressed in her delicate silken robes and wearing them with pride rather than protest, smiling as she saw the acceptance on all the faces before her at last. Her heart wrenched slightly as she looked to her dearest friends, Rasillon, Ero and Sumira, all gazing up at her anxiously to hear her words. She looked to the Doctor on her right, dressed in his suit despite the fact that she had found his own ceremonial robes stuffed in the back of the TARDIS wardrobe. He held a package wrapped in plain brown paper under his arm, giving her a playful wink of encouragement as she caught his eye. Mickey did the same, the only one of Rose's friends who knew the meaning of the meeting she'd called.

Rose pulled in a breath, worrying her lower lip with her teeth but then letting her lips form a sad smile before she spoke.

"Life has changed for all of us here on Gallifrey," she began, frowning as her voice came out laced with emotion, "But the change is not all bad and that makes my decision all the easier. The new task force and exploration licences now introduced will ensure that the universe is under the constant care of the Time Lords and I know it will become a wonderful place to live. You all know my story now, who I am, how I came here, what I lost, what I regained."

At her last word she reached her hand down to the Doctor and he took it firmly, stepping up to the platform beside her, a steady and strong comfort at her side as she continued.

"I am so proud of what I know you will all achieve, of what this planet will become. I am only sad that I will not be here to see it."

Rose paused as she heard the audible gasps from the Senate and the devastated squeak from Sumira before she ran forward into Rose's waiting arms.

"Please, please don't go," begged Sumira, "Don't leave Rose."

Rose pulled back, pushing back Sumira's dark hair fondly from her face, "I have to," she said, "The Doctor cannot stay here and I can't be without him. I have to go but before I do I am still the Doctor on this planet and I am still a commander of the Presidential Fleet and so this I order you to do."

Rose released Sumira and took the wrapped parcel from the Doctor, opening it to pull out her leather jacket. She pushed Sumira's long ceremonial coat off her shoulders and wrapped the leather around her.

"The universe needs a Doctor," she said holding on to the collar as Sumira tried to shrug the coat off, "You have been with me for so long Sumi, you have been my best friend but you have also been my pupil."

"Rose please…" begged Sumira as Rose pulled back and pulled out the Valiant key and her sonic screwdriver. She placed them in the young Time Lord's hands, closing her fingers around them.

"The Valiant is yours now, as it always should have been by your birth right. Rasillon will tell you all you need to know about who you are but know this one thing also, you are the Doctor. You are the protector of this world and many others, you have the right to be a sarky little upstart and you have the right to be free."

"Rose I can't, I'm not…its your title," cried Sumira the tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

"It was never mine," said Rose, "But it can be yours. It is in your blood, in your heart and I know you will make me proud."

"But what about you?" said Sumira, "What will you do now? What will happen when you leave us."

"I'll become what I was born to be," said Rose, stepping back and taking the Doctor's hand, "I was born to be an assistant, a companion, a side kick and I wouldn't change it for the universe, either of them. So be strong and be free, all of you because you are my sun and my moon and my stars and I love you all so deeply. My Gallifrey, my people. Accept it Sumira."

The young Time Lord nodded, pulling the jacket on and fastening it, brushing the tears away from her cheeks and standing as tall as she could manage. She stood aside as Rasillon came up to Rose, taking her hands in his and pulling her a step away from the Doctor. Her caressed her cheek fondly before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Brave, wise and beautiful," he muttered against her, "You will be sorely missed my dear. Perhaps, with careful consideration and planning we may be able to utilise the program that brought your Doctor here, perhaps enable you both to visit and look in on us from time to time."

"I'd like that," said Rose, "But first you must see to this universe and not others. Mora would be proud of what you are doing Rasillon, Gallifrey lives on, Gallifrey thrives."

"Thanks to the both of you," said Rasillon, extending a hand to the Doctor before placing Rose's back in its customary place, "Doctor, you may have lost your planet to the Time War but it was your intelligence that saved ours. If I may offer to you, however small amount of a consolation it may be, this place as your home, to be considered your home and these your people."

The Doctor nodded wordlessly, not trusting himself to speak but smiling all the same. Rose held him to her as she heard Rasillon dismiss the Senate and the hundred strong crowd leave the cavernous room. She felt the Doctor pull back, nodding towards a lone figure who sat on one of the high back chairs ahead of them. Rose smiled as the Doctor ushered all the other people from the room, leaving Rose alone in the Chancellor's company. Rose walked over and sat beside him, mimicking his stoic pose before reaching across and taking his hand.

"How often have we sat here like this?" she said, "The Senate meeting ends and we sit here alone, not needing to talk but needing to be here. Funny how little rituals develop."

"And yet we must break them," said Ero his voice barely reaching a whisper, "For every habit must be broken or it becomes an obsession that is too painful when it is lost. I did not break it soon enough, the only thing that is breaking are my hearts. Doctor…Rose, you mean beyond the universe to me, I don't know how to say goodbye."

"Then let's not say it," said Rose kneeling before him, "I do not leave for a few days so let's enjoy what we have left and then who knows what may happen to us all, who'd have thought we'd even be here, everything is changeable in the universe Ero but our friendship, that is constant."

"Promise me you'll be happy with him."

"That I can promise," said Rose hugging him to her.

XXXX

A small band of people gathered around the TARDIS as Rose made her emotional goodbyes to her friends. Sumira stood proud and tall in the black trade mark clothes Rose had sported only days before, the Valiant strong and silent behind her. Rose had already managed a tearful goodbye to her beloved ship, clearing all the designations in order for her new captain to take over. She patted the TARDIS fondly as she once again reminded herself that her freedom still existed. She hugged her friends to her individually, making promises that may yet go unfulfilled but needing to be said anyway. They had arrange to go to Earth to drop Mickey off before they left the universe, back into their true timelines, giving Rose a chance to say goodbye to Jackie, Pete and Angela but the Doctor knew as he watched from the TARDIS door that it was now, on a distant planet in a galaxy Rose had never heard of when she was small, that Rose was bidding her family goodbye. He felt no jealousy as he watched her press a kiss to Ero's lips in farewell nor as she did the same when she left Mickey on Earth later on.

The TARDIS hummed softly as Rose closed the door on the city behind her, Gallifrey had drained most of her emotions so the visit to London had exhausted her fully but when she looked up at the beaming face of the Doctor as he fiddled with co ordinates and danced the familiar dance round the console she couldn't have felt more alive. She smiled as he pulled her into a kiss before guiding her hands to the TARDIS controls.

"Thought you might like a go," he said stepping back from the console but Rose took her hands away.

"No," she said, "She's yours, besides, I much prefer being a passenger anyway. So then Doctor, where are we going?"

"Home," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist as he set the TARDIS in motion, "We're going home."


	12. Chapter 12

The gardens of the Presidential Palace were always at their most beautiful at the beginning of autumn, like the seasons on Earth, autumn on Gallifrey brought golds, russets, browns and purples to the trees of Arcadia. Sumira wandered amongst the bright colours, breathing in the still warm twilight air, enjoying the feel of home turf beneath her feet. She flicked her long, leather coat out behind her as she settled down on the cool stone bench, resting her hands behind her and leaning back to admire the sky above her. There was barely any noise to be heard as the planet quieted for the evening, the traffic that buzzed in and out from the surrounding planets throughout the day restricted to only emergency flights at night.

She had recently returned from dealing with a pocket of Cybermen who were massing on Titan, one of Saturn's Moons, in an attempt to mount an assault against the Earth. Torchwood probes had detected them but their ships could not get close without being noticed and shot down. They had sent a distress call for the Doctor and the Valiant had slipped effortlessly passed their defences, resulting in an exhilarating chase and finally some not so well functioning Cybermen. It had been an easy task for Sumira's skills but she welcomed the chance to stretch her legs, since the Time Lords had become more active in the universe her job had become more symbolic than useful but she carried her title proudly all the same, glad to carry the torch of her two predecessors.

She was pulled from her thoughts as two cool hands closed over her eyes. She smiled, sinking back against the robed chest, the silk a welcome comfort against her cheek.

"You're finished early," she said softly, "Presidential duties must be getting lighter."

"I'm just fabulous at my job. Good to be home?"

Sumira regarded her husband as he sat beside her, he had regenerated recently and appeared much more youthful than his previous self, his blonde hair poker straight and down to his shoulders and his blue eyes shining up at her but still showing so sadness for the friend and predecessor he'd lost. Rasillon had died the previous year, his final life spent and Ero had been elected in his place, taking the place as whole heartedly as Sumira had accepted her title almost a hundred years before.

"Its always good to come home," she said softly, "Breathe the air, feel the breeze, to remember."

Ero took her hand gently, pulling her up to her feet and guiding her back inside the sweeping, ornate palace, "I have a surprise for you," he said by means of explanation, "They've been waiting for hours for you."

Sumira as she heard the familiar laughter through the door ahead of her and hurried forward to push it open only to be greeted by two young infants clinging tightly to her legs, balancing precariously on her steel toe capped boots. She hugged each in turn, ruffling one's wild dark hair and smiling at the full pouty lips of the other as she whined at being second in favour.

Finally disengaging herself from the children she was swept into a warm hug by her friends, struggling to fit her arms around her female counterpart as her ever swelling stomach proved an unwelcome but joyous barrier.

"Rose," she said patting her bump, "You never told me you were expecting another."

Rose smiled serenely at her friend, "You know what he's like," she said jerking a thumb towards her partner who stood in utter despair as his two children attempted to turn him into a climbing frame, his long brown coat proving a sufficient rope for his four year old son, "He can't put me down."

"I'm still making up lost time," came the response, followed quickly by a more pained cry, "Morgan, Deanna I am not a tree please do not climb me."

"Sure you can cope with another," said Sumira, laughing at the Doctor's predicament as two year old Deanna found a rather useful grip on his hair.

"I can barely cope with him," said Rose, "But yes, we'll cope. Last one though. I may have four hundred years left in me but I don't want to be a baby machine for the rest of my days."

"You're hot when you're pregnant," was the Doctor's response as he detangled himself from the children, convincing them to mount an assault against a protesting Ero.

"And you're cute when you're quiet, doesn't mean I want it to happen that often," said Rose, "We just took the kids to this fantastic theme park on Regalta but mister oh so clever there decides that the bloke running the place is in fact a shape shifting Narto…Narto…"

"Nartocaric," said the Doctor, "Which he was!"

"That's beside the point. Anyway, we're halfway round this tea cup ride and wham, he's jammed the gears with the sonic screwdriver and off he goes, chasing this bloke like he's just escaped from a mental asylum, leaving the kids screaming and the parents yelling and me to pick up the pieces."

"Sounds like fun," said Sumira, "Next time I skip over the void you'll have to take me too."

"Well that might be a while," said Rose a sly grin playing over her face as she and the Doctor exchange a mischievous glance, "You see, we kind of got a phone call from your darling husband who asked us, quite sweetly really, being as the Doctor is pretty savvy with all this science business and the fact that I still remain the fastest and best pilot in a type 40, if we wouldn't mind helping out in the little supernova project you've got going on."

Sumira shrieked with joy as she threw her arms around Rose's neck, hugging her close, "You mean you're staying? For how long?"

"As long as it takes," said the Doctor, "Torchwood have us on speed dial if we're needed back home. So, dear Doctor, are we allowed to stay."

Sumira preened as he referred to her by her title, still feeling pride in knowing the original and by far the best.

"I think," she said, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders, "That can be arranged."


End file.
